NHS bank staff to demonstrate over planned transfer to private company
Unite union say it's a fire and rehire tactic
NHS staff with the Unite union are to stage a protest this morning against plans to outsource bank staff at hospitals serving Wiltshire patients to a private company.
Staff will be demonstrating outside Bath's Royal United Hospital against what the union is calling a "fire and rehire" tactic.
RUH Bath, Great Western and Salisbury NHS Foundation are planning to transfer the service to Pulse, a private organisation part of the Acacium Group from 1st August this year.
It will remove NHS bank workers from NHS employment and mean they need to re-register with a private provider to continue working bank shifts.
Bank workers are a pool of temporary, on-demand workers, including nurses, doctors and admin staff, who fill staff shortages within hospitals. Many are women and from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.
Unite says around 200 people will be impacted if the plans go through.
It's claimed moving them to a private company will place them in an organisation focussed on profit and reduce staffing terms and conditions, lose NHS pension benefits and lose the continuity of NHS employment and associated protections.
Unite says the decision has been pushed through without a risk assessment or equality impact assessment being published, while the union claims it's not been given clear evidence the move will bring genuine savings.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "The way these NHS trusts are treating their overworked and underpaid workers is a disgrace. They need to rethink their plans and start treating these workers with respect. They will have Unite’s full support for as long as it takes."
Unite added that the staff are "essential" to keep hospitals functioning, and says that damaging staff retention will increase vacancies and force hospitals to rely on more expensive services from private companies, which will impact care and increase costs.
Acacium Group, a private equity-owned company, has recently suffered a downgrade in its credit rating, prompting warnings about its financial sustainability.
Unite regional officer Harry Richards said: "Unite is entirely opposed to these plans that will have a detrimental impact on our members' jobs, pay and conditions.
"The trusts have failed to have even provided full transparency about their plans. As an absolute minimum they need to agree that NHS terms and conditions will be protected."
Hospital's understand change could be unsettling
A spokesperson for BSW Hospitals Group said:
“Moving to a single, integrated bank service across the Group will enable bank workers to access a wider range of opportunities across multiple sites. It will make booking shifts much more streamlined and accessible which, in turn, will help to increase fill rates and support us in maintaining safe high-quality patient care.
“Most staff who work bank shifts also hold substantive contracts within the Group and will retain access to NHS pension benefits through their substantive roles, including any additional hours worked up to 37.5 hours per week.
“However, we understand that some workers may find these changes unsettling and we are supporting staff through this transition. We also encourage staff, where possible, to apply for suitable substantive positions as they become available.
“This initiative is projected to deliver nearly £5 million in savings and efficiencies, contributing significantly towards our Group-wide financial improvement target of £117 million.
“The move to a single outsourced temporary staffing service will not vary the provision of service for patients and therefore, the Department of Health and Social Care has confirmed that the decision by BSW Hospitals Group to outsource bank staffing arrangements is not a proposal for changes to NHS services by NHS England or an ICB.
“Despite this, we recognise the importance of keeping our Local Authority scrutiny panels informed and will continue to engage with both our staff and our partners on the arrangements proposed, so we can remain committed to better ways of working together.”