Healthcare workers say efforts need recognition

STAFF ARE WORKING 'ABOVE AND BEYOND FOR NO MORE THAN MINIMUM WAGE'

- KATIE OBORN

STRIKE action by healthcare workers at Derriford Hospital continues, workers say they are working above and beyond their job description and describe their current pay rate as a “kick in the teeth”.

The 72-hour walk out – which began on Wednesday – has been joined by hundreds of Plymouth healthcare assistants who say they are the “backbone” of the hospital – and they want fair pay.

Maternity care assistants, imaging care assistants and clinical support workers at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust are all on strike. Many described their roles as exhausting and said they are paid little more than minimum wage.

Derriford Hospital has said it recognises and appreciates “the huge contribution that all of our healthcare support workers make to our patients” and says it is working with staff and trade unions to establish negotiations “with the aim of recognising our healthcare support workers and ultimately resolving the current dispute”.

It says it respects their colleagues’ right to strike and appreciate it can be a “difficult decision to make, both professionally and personally”.