More than 1,500 hospital workers in East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire have received four years of back pay as part of a deal between their employer and trade union.
The staff, who are members of the union Unite, work under NHS Humber Health Partnership, which oversees Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.
The healthcare assistants had been performing tasks, such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas, that were above their pay grade.
The partnership has accepted these empployees were performing extra duties and agreed to move them up a grade. It will also provide back pay from April 2021 to properly compensate staff for their work and ensure they are paid properly.
The deal, which is part of the Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, also includes staff who previously worked at the hospitals. It follows the regrading of maternity support workers employed by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust earlier this year.
An NHS Humber Health Partnership spokesperson said: “These are very much valued members of our team, and we recognise the additional duties that they have been carrying out. It is part of a national change, but we are pleased to have reached a collective agreement with our staff side employees.”
Rachel Waters, Hull and East Riding health branch secretary at Unison, added: “It’s great news that so many staff will receive a pay rise in time for Christmas. It’s an excellent deal which will ensure that hundreds of frontline NHS workers are finally paid properly for the work they do.”
Andrea Smith, Grimsby, Goole and Scunthorpe health joint branch secretary at Unison, said: “Staff have been carrying out duties above their pay grade to make sure patients get the best possible care for years. It’s only right that they are regraded and fairly compensated for the work they’ve done previously.”
