Contingency plans have been put in place at Kings Mill Hospital as 200 facilities and service staff employed by contractor Medirest take strike action. Medirest is a major supplier to the NHS. Its staff provide frontline services such as catering, portering, cleaning and security.
In addition to Kings Mill Hospital, the strike affects the other two hospitals in the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust: Mansfield Community Hospital and Newark Hospital. The GMB trade union, which represents Medirest staff, said that the grievance centres around workers receiving “less favourable terms and conditions they receive compared to directly employed NHS staff.”
The breaking point came after NHS employees received a special one-off Covid recovery bonus payment, worth at least £1,655, as part of the NHS pay deal. Staff employed directly employed by the NHS doing similar roles as those employed by Medirest. But staff working for contractors like Medirest are not eligible for the bonus.
“Medirest workers are being treated like second class staff compared to workers employed directly by the NHS”, GMB organiser Cameron Mitchell said. “Just like their colleagues on NHS contracts, they worked through Covid delivering key services to patents; yet they are yet to be paid the Covid recovery bonus they were promised.
“These workers are demanding the dignity and recognition they deserve; it’s a disgrace that Medirest bosses have pushed them to this”.
In response to today’s 24-hour strike action, a spokesperson for Medirest said that they were “disappointed” with GMB’s decision to proceed with industrial action.
“The eligibility criteria for this bonus payment is in the hands of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)”, the spokesperson said. “While we are pleased that some of our employees have been identified as eligible and are due to receive the bonus payment imminently, we recognise it is disappointing for those who do not meet the government’s eligibility criteria.
“All our employees received a separate pay uplift last year and have access to a range of employee benefits. We continue to maintain a regular dialogue with our people, the unions, and NHS trusts.”
Medirest paid their workers a six week “well and working” bonus for frontline workers during the pandemic.
The deputy chief operating officer of Sherwood Forest Hospitals, Chris Dann, said: “We continue to work with Medirest on contingency plans to minimise disruption during this period of industrial action and to ensure there is no compromise to patient safety
“We recognise and value the vital roles our Medirest colleagues undertake on behalf of our patients and people, and we acknowledge their right to take industrial action.”
“We hope a resolution can be speedily found.”
The DHSC sets the criteria for the Covid recovery bonus and has said that outsourced workers do not qualify.
The DHSC was approached for comment.
