WIRRAL MPs have urged health bosses to step in and help resolve the pay dispute that has seen clinical support workers at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals return to the picket lines in strike action.

The workers are striking over pay and back-pay that they believe they are entitled to for carrying out duties and tasks that are above their pay grade. The current action is due to end tomorrow (Thursday, February 8).

The dispute has escalated in recent weeks, with strikes taking place at weekends for the first time since action began in August of last year.

In a letter to Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust this week, Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood and Birkenhead counterpart Mick Whitley said these Band 2 clinical support workers “deserve to be recognised financially for the additional work that they have been doing.”

A spokesperson for the trust said recently: “We have always been open to discussions with UNISON regarding the CSW dispute and this has not changed. We remain committed to finding a resolution.”

Unison, the union representing the workers, has said that these clinical support workers, who are on Band 2 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale, should only be providing personal care to patients. This includes things like bathing and feeding.

They added that, for many years, they have also been undertaking clinical tasks, such as taking and monitoring blood, performing electrocardiogram tests, taking patient observations and removing cannulas. These are duties that should be carried out by Band 3 staff – who receive around £2,000 a year more in wages.

According to Unison, following ACAS talks, the trust agreed to a back-pay date for the clinical support workers of up to 1 April 2018, which is in line with agreements made with a number of other trusts across the North West.

The union has also explained that WUTH agreed that undertaking one clinical duty from a list would be sufficient to qualify for back-pay, however, the union understands that the trust's proposed list of clinical duties is far more stringent than any lists which have been agreed with trusts elsewhere in the region.

As a result, it seems that a significant number of workers would be excluded from the process and miss out on back-pay and re-grading – something which Margaret Greenwood and Mick Whitley have said is “incredibly disappointing”.

In their letter, Margaret Greenwood MP and Mick Whitley MP say: "Clinical support workers are incredibly important members of the NHS workforce.

"Those employed by WUTH provide care and support to some of the most vulnerable patients in Wirral, and they do it with a great deal of sensitivity and skill.

"They are vital to the functioning of the NHS. Without them, services would not be able to run effectively.

"They are dedicated and committed professionals who care deeply about patients.

"It is a clear moral principle that staff should be paid according to the level of work that they are required to do and we urge you to make sure that this happens in Wirral.

"NHS staff deserve to be treated fairly and in line with national job profiles.

"We understand that, having agreed to back-pay up to 1 April 2018, we now have a situation where hundreds of clinical support workers are not eligible to receive the higher levels of pay and the back-pay to which they believe they are entitled.

"We are concerned about the impact that this will have on the long term morale of not only clinical support workers, but all staff at WUTH.

“We are concerned that WUTH has still not been able to settle this dispute, especially given that three other trusts in Cheshire and Merseyside – East Cheshire NHS Trust, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust – have recently settled similar disputes by making what Unison has called ‘significantly better offers’.

"We also understand from Unison that seven other trusts in the North West have also settled on much better offers.

"Why hasn’t WUTH done this? Are clinical support workers valued less in Wirral? We are concerned not only about these implications, but also what this may mean for future recruitment.

"We understand that WUTH has said that it remains open to talks and that it is committed to finding a resolution.

"We call on you to make every effort to engage constructively with the clinical support workers and Unison to bring about a swift and satisfactory outcome to this dispute."

Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust has been contacted for comment.

A spokesperson from Wirral University Teaching Hospital said recently: “As a Trust we remain open to talks. We have been very flexible in our offer. As well as agreeing to their key demand of a back date of pay to 2018, we have also agreed to a number of additional requests from UNISON, such as greater flexibility around evidence requirements.

“We have always said that we will pay workers for the work that they undertake, and this pledge has not changed.

“Unfortunately, UNISON is continuing to request that we implement a backpay framework to CSWs, whose duties would not, under the NHS Agenda for Change job evaluation scheme, increase their banding and pay.

“At UNISON’s request we took advice from NHS Employers, who agreed our position was in line with the national Agenda for Change framework.

“As our offer is in line with national terms and conditions, we are disappointed that UNISON have declined to put our offer to their members to vote and are continuing to take action.

“We have always been open to discussions with UNISON regarding the CSW dispute and this has not changed. We remain committed to finding a resolution.”