Healthcare workers will rally tomorrow (Wednesday) to demand Wiltshire County Council delays the controversial transfer of community health services to a private firm, says UNISON today (Tuesday).
Affected staff will urge councillors to pause the contract award amid concerns over compliance and patient safety.
The rally, supported by UNISON, will take place outside County Hall in Trowbridge at 9.30am tomorrow (Wednesday) ahead of Wiltshire County Council’s health select committee meeting.
Occupational therapists, nurses, care co-ordinators and physiotherapists are among those who will be outsourced to contractor HCRG Care Group, says the union.
Workers fear the rushed transfer will undermine the quality of care to thousands of people in the county, as well as taking their jobs away from the NHS, UNISON says.
Most of the staff who will move under the new contract have previously been outsourced to Wiltshire Health and Care. But many will also be transferred from direct NHS employment, as they currently work for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The workforce had hoped government pledges on insourcing before last year’s election would lead to their jobs being brought back into the NHS, rather than more being taken out, says UNISON.
The union says that placing staff into a venture capital-owned employer sends entirely the wrong signal to staff who want to work on NHS contracts like many of their colleagues.
UNISON is calling on Wiltshire County Council to demand a delay in the transfer, giving the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board – the body responsible for planning health services in the region – time to properly assess the risks and ensure a fair and lawful process.
UNISON South West regional secretary Kerry Baigent said: “This move is bad for staff, bad for patients and bad for Wiltshire.
“The healthcare workers affected have already been outsourced once. Instead of bringing them back into the NHS where they belong, they are being shunted even further away.
“The council must put the brakes on this rushed handover. A pause is needed to ensure transparency, compliance and the safety of staff and patients.
“Wiltshire Council must listen to healthcare workers and rethink this decision before it’s too late.”