Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust private contractor employees to take strike action, including at Newark Hospital

Hundreds of hospital workers are due to go on strike, including at Newark Hospital.

GMB Union has today (July 30) announced a further 48 hours of strike action by private contractors at three Nottinghamshire hospitals.

Workers employed by Medirest, a private contractor for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, are ‘furious’ and want company bosses to bring terms and conditions in line with colleagues employed directly by the NHS.

Workers have also been denied the NHS Covid Recovery Bonus, the one-off payment made to Britain’s health service workers, despite working throughout the pandemic alongside NHS colleagues.

Strike action will take place on Thursday, August 1, and Friday, August 2, brining the total strike days by the workers to ten.

Nearly three hundred workers, including porters, cleaners, security staff, catering workers and reception teams will take part in the walkout at Newark Hospital, King’s Mill Hospital, and Mansfield Community Hospital.

Cameron Mitchell, GMB Organiser, said: “Medirest is a national company that should be focused on delivering key NHS services, but instead they've got themselves tied up in Nottinghamshire.

“NHS workers receive better pay, terms and conditions than Medirest staff for doing the same job.

“Plenty of private contractors in Nottinghamshire’s health service reward staff in line with NHS employed workers; why are Medirest refusing to do the same?”