CLINCAL support workers at Wirral University Teaching Hospitals Trust (WUTH) have voted for further strike action in their long-running dispute over pay.

In the ballot, staff backed strike action with 97% voting in favour. In total, more than 200 more workers voted to continue the action than did so in August.

According to NHS guidance, healthcare assistants on salary band 2 of the Agenda for Change pay scale should only be providing personal care, such as bathing and feeding patients. 

However union, Unison, has said that most of the healthcare assistants have routinely undertaken clinical tasks, such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas.

Staff on salary band 3 are paid £2,000 more a year for performing the extra duties. The union has said it wants those workers to be paid “fairly” for their work, including “appropriate back pay”.

Strikes were paused in November following talks about how to deal with the backpay issue. However, staff were back on picket lines two weeks later after an agreement could not be reached.

Unison regional organiser David McKnight said: “Coming after six months of industrial action, the huge increase staff joining the union and voting for action demonstrates the strength and depth of feeling from Wirral’s clinical support workers.

“Staff thought they had an agreement on back pay, only for the trust to turn round and tell hundreds of them they’re not eligible. 

“Wirral has to play fair and pay fair and make staff an offer along the lines of the other trusts in the region.

“Trust bosses have dragged this strike out for months, unnecessarily impacting the service provided to patients.

“This ballot result shows that Wirral’s support workers aren’t going to stop until they get what they’re owed. It's time for the trust to do the right thing for patients and hardworking hospital staff.”

A Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson said: “We have previously made significant progress in talks with UNISON, including our agreement to their key demand of a back date of pay to 2018.

“We have always said that we will pay workers for the work that they undertake, and this pledge has not changed. In order to do so, we must implement a framework that is in line with the national NHS Agenda for Change job evaluation scheme. This will allow those who have worked above their current band to receive the pay they deserve.

“We remain committed to ending this dispute and hope to meet with UNISON in the coming weeks to find a resolution.”

No further strike dates have been announced as yet.