Healthcare support worker industrial action

Healthcare support workers at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals will take strike action from 7am on Thursday 28 September to 8am on Saturday 30 September 2023.

This is part of a UNISON national campaign relating to the retrospective pay banding of healthcare support worker roles. It is not connected to the ongoing national strikes involving wider sections of the NHS workforce.

The Trust is committed to making sure that healthcare support workers are paid the right banding for the work they do. From 1 October, around 80% of healthcare support workers at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals will have their pay uplifted from a band 2 to a band 3. This reflects the different roles required across different parts of the organisation and the individual preferences of our healthcare support workers.

The Trust has also set up a working group to explore the issue of retrospective pay banding in the detail it deserves. The group includes healthcare support workers and local trade union representatives and is aiming to establish a fair way to resolve this complex issue as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, despite this commitment to work in partnership with trade unions, regional UNISON colleagues have decided to pursue strike action. Whilst this is regrettable, we will continue to work to find a resolution for our healthcare support workers.

Advice for patients, carers and members of the public

We will be taking all appropriate actions to minimise any potential impact on our patients during this period of industrial action.

Patients are asked to attend their hospital appointments unless they are directly contacted by Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals.

Visiting arrangements will operate as normal and we will do what we can to support visiting outside of these hours, where possible.

Members of our communities can help by keeping the Emergency Department (Accident and Emergency) at Warrington Hospital free for emergencies and using alternative services including GPs, pharmacies and NHS 111 online for non-emergency health advice.