HEALTHCARE workers at Arrowe Park Hospital are to go on strike next week as part of an ongoing pay dispute. 

Members of the Unite union are to take industrial action for seven days, from Monday, July 1 to to Sunday, July 7.

The union says staff at the hospital in Wirral are escalating their strikes over "a continued failure to recognise their workplace responsibilities and pay them accordingly".

Unite members who work as recovery theatre practitioners and who care for patients recovering from serious operations, are not being paid appropriately by their employer, the Wirral University Hospital Trust, the union has claimed.

Unite alleges these staff members are being paid "a band below the level of responsibility and duties they are providing" and claims workers have been left up to £8,000 out of pocket due to being wrongly graded.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is a disgrace that an NHS employer is refusing to acknowledge the hard work our members are doing and the vital care they provide to patients.

"The Wirral Trust must immediately do the right thing and pay our members the proper rate for the job.”

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The union says staff are also reporting high levels of physical and mental illness due to stress and burnout.

One staff member told Unite: “I am at breaking point and feeling frustrated and saddened as to how I have been treated.

"We are working equally to our band 6 [staff grade] colleagues but not getting the equal pay. As the trust have continued to refuse to acknowledge the skills and knowledge of that of the recovery practitioner.”

Staff have been on strike earlier this year on April 16 and 17, May 7 to 9 and  May 23 to 24, as well as from June 3 to 6 .

The union adds that "staff are determined to continue to take strike action until the trust begins to negotiate".

The impact of the strikes is leading to delays in operations for patients, the union added.

 Unite regional officer Derek Jones added: “The Wirral trust is behaving appallingly. It knows full well it is in the wrong but it is failing to acknowledge the roles and responsibilities of these vital staff and to pay them their proper pay.

"Our members are furious and will not stand for it – they are prepared to take any strike action needed to force the trust to come back to the negotiating table.”

In response to the strike action, a Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson has said: "The Trust has not failed to acknowledge the responsibilities of these staff members. There is an established process for reviewing banding, which unfortunately, Unite members have chosen not to participate in thus far.

"In our effort to resolve this dispute, we have offered additional flexible options for staff to provide evidence of work at a higher grade. It is therefore disappointing that strike action is being pursued.

"The Trust has implemented comprehensive arrangements to prepare for this industrial action, ensuring that there are no delays or disruptions to patient care."