Hospital staff in Leeds to strike over back pay dispute
Theatre assistants are demanding compensation for years of underpayment
Hospital staff in Leeds are set to go on strike in a disagreement about back pay.
Theatre assistants from four sites run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are pushing for compensation after performing extra duties for years without receiving the appropriate pay.
Tasks cited by the union UNISON include counting swabs, inserting cannulas, collecting samples, and ensuring sterile use of equipment—responsibilities that they argue warrant a higher pay grade.
Staff have been offered one year’s back pay but are now demanding payments backdated to April 2021.
UNISON has highlighted regional differences, with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust recently compensating staff with five years’ back pay.
Since 2021, over 60 NHS trusts across England and Wales have agreed similar regrading and back pay deals, affecting more than 40,000 healthcare workers.
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside area organiser Imogen Woods said: “The last thing staff want to do is take strike action, especially in the run up to Christmas. But they feel they’ve been left with no other option.
“Staff have been working above their pay grade for years and it’s only right they’re fairly compensated.
“Hospital managers need to recognise the strength of feeling on this issue. Strike action can easily be avoided if they agree to pay them properly for the work they’ve done.”
Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It’s important to us that colleagues feel valued and are able to share their concerns.
We’re working together with colleagues in theatres and our staff side representatives to try and resolve this dispute as soon as possible and ensure minimal disruption to patient care.”