Phlebotomists mark 50th strike day and announce two more weeks of action

Phlebotomists at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are on strike today (Thursday) for the 50th day and have announced a further two weeks of industrial action in the dispute to win fair pay, says UNISON.

The new dates announced mean the workers, who deal with patient blood samples, will continue their action until at least Sunday 1 June.

The long-running dispute centres on the trust’s refusal to properly re-evaluate the roles phlebotomists currently perform and which should be paid at a higher grade, says the union.

This amounts to a breach of the trust’s own policy and the NHS’s job evaluation scheme, UNISON says.

Talks took place on Tuesday (13 May) to resolve the dispute, but the trust made clear it would only allow a job evaluation panel to look into a new, hypothetical job description for the future, not the tasks phlebotomists have been doing for years.

Staff are not asking for a new role, but want their current jobs fairly paid using the NHS’s own process, says the union. At present they are paid at band 2 of the NHS’s Agenda for Change pay scale but should be on the higher band 3, UNISON says.

The co-chair of the NHS staff council has given written advice that the trust is breaching national agreements by blocking the panel, says the union.

The phlebotomists have now extended their strike action to Sunday 1 June, but remain available for talks if the trust is ready to follow the correct process, the union adds.

UNISON South West regional organiser Chris Roche said: “Phlebotomists at Gloucestershire hospitals have the skills, knowledge and experience that clearly meet the criteria for a band 3 role.

“They carry out complex procedures, care for patients with additional needs and work independently across wards and clinics.

“They have done this vital job for years and they deserve to be recognised and paid accordingly.”