Biomedical scientists at Scarborough Hospital will stage two more days of industrial action over ‘completely unmanageable’ workloads.
Unite union members in the Scarborough, Hull and York Pathology Service (SHYPS) have announced two more strike days in a dispute with the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust over staffing and workforce issues.
The strikes on Wednesday, October 30 and Thursday 31 follow three days of action in September and earlier this month over “unsustainable workloads”.
In addition to staff at the blood sciences services at Scarborough Hospital, the strikes included microbiologists at York Hospital.
Speaking at a meeting of the trust’s board on Wednesday, October 23, chief executive Simon Morritt said:
“We are actively involved in discussions with this group of staff, their union representatives, and the SHYPS senior leadership team in a bid to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion and are engaging ACAS to support these conversations.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:
“It is a disgrace that the York and Scarborough Trust is risking the safety of patients. Our members have been forced to take this action as a last resort to highlight the unsustainable workloads they are forced to undertake.
“They will have the full backing of their union in this fight not only for their own workplace conditions but to improve patient safety in Yorkshire.”
Unite, which has around 60 members who conduct scientific testing on blood and other human matter for thousands of patients across the trust, said the closure of a biomedical laboratory at Scarborough Hospital two years ago “led to increased pressure on other units within the trust”.
The trust acknowledged that “routine testing will be impacted” but said it would “continue to prioritise urgent samples”.
It comes as the British Medical Association’s GP partner members in England are continuing with their industrial action calling for a contract that is “fit for purpose”.
The BMA said that collective action – which can include limiting daily patient appointments and serving notice on voluntary services – would “turn up the pressure on the Government to do the right thing for general practice and patients”.
Chief executive, Mr Morritt, said that
“unlike the industrial action carried out by other staff groups, no defined timeframe has been announced, with the suggestion that it may continue in some form for an extended period”.
He added:
“It seems from regional conversations that there seems to be more action being taken in North Yorkshire and York than in many other regions – people in the regional teams say that’s because we have good reporting mechanisms but we shall see.
“We are seeing some impacts but we are keeping an eye on activity flows.”
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