NHS support staff to move back in-house
A deal brokered by public services union UNSION will end outsourcing at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
A thousand low-paid porters, cleaners and catering staff at the NHS Trust in London are celebrating after winning the right to be directly managed by the NHS, the union says.
From 1 April the staff — who work in the trust’s five hospitals across the capital — will no longer be employed by private contractor Sodexo. The company has held the contract since 2015.
As part of the transfer back to the NHS, staff from Sodexo will see their pay, overtime, pensions and sickness allowances brought in line with other health service workers, ending years of unfair treatment, says the union.
Employees’ pay will increase from £10.55 to £11.28 an hour and they’ll get sick pay from the first day they’re ill. Workers will also be able to join the NHS pension scheme, which was previously unavailable to them as Sodexo staff.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Managers at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust have sensibly put an end to a system that forces staff to watch colleagues doing similar jobs get better pay, more leave and more generous pensions.”