Buckinghamshire hospital staff 'work when ill' due to sick pay arrangements, says union (From Bucks Free Press)

Buckinghamshire hospital staff 'work when ill' due to sick pay arrangements, says union

2:04pm Thursday 26th August 2010 in

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HOSPITAL staff have gone into work whilst ill because they do not receive 'adequate' sick pay, union leaders have said.

Some cleaning, portering and catering services at Wycombe and Amersham hospitals are contracted to private firm Medirest – but its staff only get statutory sick pay of £79.15 per week.

Some workers say they feel they have no choice but to go to work to earn their full wage – but warn this is putting vulnerable patients at risk.

'In-house' NHS staff by contrast, get full pay for at least one month when sick.

NHS sick pay also kicks in immediately, whereas statutory sick pay – the legal minimum – is only payable after three days of illness.

In a letter to Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust the Unison union said staff at the lower end of the pay scale face “enormous financial worries as a result of illness”.

It adds: “Staff sometimes force themselves into work where doing so presents a risk to themselves, patients and colleagues.”

It has now given the trust a petition bearing 1,000 signatures, calling for Medirest staff to get the same terms and conditions as NHS workers.

One Medirest porter, who does not want to be named, told The Bucks Free Press: “I cannot afford to take time off, I cannot afford to tell my boss.

“If I am taking one patient to and fro, one ward to another, I am infecting them with what I have got.”

The trust said it is in discussions with Medirest to resolve the sick pay issue.

Trust spokesman Zosia Katnik said: “Medirest ensure we receive a compliant and effective service and the safety of our patients and staff is paramount in this matter.”

Medirest spokesman Katya Heath said: “All of our employees receive statutory entitlements and the safety of our patients and staff is paramount to us. We continue to work with the trust to resolve this issue."

Medirest has 173 employees at Wycombe Hospital and 59 at Amersham.

When asked if cost-cutting was a reason for hospitals using contracted staff the trust replied: “Contractors are part of our PFI arrangements.”

Buildings at Wycombe, Amersham and Stoke Mandeville hospitals were built under the private finance initiative [PFI], whereby private firms put up the initial funding and the trust pays the money back, with interest, over a period of up to 63 years.

As part of the PFI contracts, facilities management services at the hospitals are also provided by a private firm.