Healthcare support workers in Wales are to receive a wage rise and thousands of pounds in back pay after NHS Wales conceded they had been underpaid for years, says UNISON Cymru today (Wednesday).
More than 6,000 staff, currently employed on the lowest band* of the NHS Agenda for Change salary scale, will be moved up a level and receive payments for the extra duties they’ve been performing.
This follows an agreement secured by UNISON Cymru with employers and the Welsh government recognising the workers have been consistently carrying out clinical roles beyond their job descriptions. It acknowledges these responsibilities should have been paid at the higher rate (band 3).
UNISON encouraged the predominantly female and low-paid workforce to collectively submit formal grievances to their health boards, highlighting the work they had undertaken that would normally have been on a higher grade.
The union called for a Wales-wide solution and healthcare support workers in Swansea Bay added to the pressure on employers by voting for strike action with a huge majority, which ultimately led to their own pay victory.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board healthcare support worker Evie Fox-Byrne said: “Our work is vital in supporting patients and helping them recover. Health boards shouldn’t be taking advantage of staff to save a few quid. This is money we were owed, dating back years.
“Healthcare assistants have gone above and beyond for many years, so receiving this recognition brings much-needed relief and support to everyone involved. “This will make such a difference to me and my family, especially my little daughter. I’m over the moon.”
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board healthcare support worker Caitlyn Utting said: “It felt energising to know that healthcare assistants in hospitals right across Wales were standing together against an employer that wasn’t paying us correctly.
“UNISON backed us, we won and it feels great.”
UNISON Cymru head of health Tanya Bull said: “Thousands of low-paid healthcare support workers will savour this moment. They stood up for their right to be paid at the appropriate level for the job they’ve been doing for years.
“They’ve taken on their health boards and won. This is a triumph for people power.”
Notes to editors:
– A re-banding and back pay agreement was formally agreed today (Wednesday) between NHS Wales employers, the Welsh government, UNISON and other unions.
– *According to NHS guidance, healthcare support workers on band 2 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale should only be providing personal care such as bathing and feeding patients. However, healthcare support workers employed by health boards across Wales have routinely undertaken clinical tasks such as monitoring blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and removal of cannulas. These should be paid at band 3 rates, UNISON has long argued.
– Healthcare support workers in Swansea Bay won re-banding and back pay after a UNISON campaign in which 99% of those who took part voted for strike action. More details can be found here.
Media contact:
Jim Poulter M: 07904 342511 E: j.poulter@unison.co.uk
