STAFF working for a Wirral health trust will strike for two days next week in an ongoing dispute over pay. 

Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, who work as recovery theatre practitioners, caring for patients recovering from serious operations, claim they are not being paid appropriately by their employer, Wirral University Hospital Trust.

According to Unite "vital healthcare workers are being paid a grade below the level of responsibility and duties they are providing. Workers have been left up to £8,000 out of pocket due to being wrongly graded".

Having exhausted all avenues of negotiation with their employer, staff said they have been left with "no option but to head to the picket line".

They went out on strike on Tuesday and yesterday (Wednesday). More strike action is planned for next Tuesday and Wednesday (April 23 and 24).

In a statement, the trust expressed "disappointment" over the ongoing strike action, adding that it had "not refused to acknowledge the contribution of these staff members" and talks are on-going with the hope that a solution can be found to the dispute".

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 service they provide to patients.

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

Unite regional officer Derek Jones added: "Our members are totally fed up and justifiably so having not been paid the right wage for the work they are doing.

"They have the full backing of their union and unless the trust comes back to the negotiating table rapidly, more strike action will take place.

“The strike action will inevitably cause delays and disruption with surgery at the hospital but this dispute is entirely of the trust’s own making. It has been given every opportunity to resolve this dispute and failed to do so.”

A Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson said: “We have not refused to acknowledge the contribution of these staff members.

"There is an agreed process for reviewing banding and unfortunately Unite members have declined to participate in that process.

"As our aim is to resolve the dispute, we have offered further flexible alternative options for staff to provide evidence of work at a higher grade. It is therefore disappointing that strike action is being taken. Talks are on-going and we remain hopeful that a solution can be found.

"Comprehensive arrangements have been put in place by the Trust to prepare for this industrial action and as such there have been no delays or disruptions to our patients."