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Sport
‘ALL-TIME LOW’ – Union verdict on industrial relations at the Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust after staff shortage forces key laboratory closure INDUSTRIAL relations are “at an all-time low” at the Trust running Dewsbury District Hospital, union officials have claimed. It follows a twist to a staffing saga which saw the biochemistry laboratory at the Staincliffe site shut for 10 hours last weekend due to lack of staff. Blood testing was switched to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield from 10pm last Saturday to 8am the next morning. An internal email from the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and seen by The Press blamed the move
on a “significant reduction” in staff. It added: “During the weekend a Blood Transfusion Biomedical Scientist will be present at times at Dewsbury to send samples for processing, and a dedicated courier service will be used.” When asked if the matter was connected to the introduction of a new rota system, officials at Mid Yorkshire said it was down to staff illness. Biomedical scientists and medical laboratory assistants claim the shift system is unsafe without more staff. Only last month the medical laboratory assistants walked out on a week-long strike in protest. Jim Bell, regional organiser for
Unison, said: “The Trust can’t continue to ignore or tut-tut staff for legitimate grievances. “We’re still dealing with the fallout from the strike by clerical workers three years ago, but the Trust is not listening. “When was the last time the chief executive (Stephen Eames) met the unions? It was so long ago I can’t remember.” Mr Bell added: “The result is, this is the worst Trust for industrial action in Yorkshire. “A fraction of the money spent on Ernst and Young would lead to more front line staff and improved morale. “Unison will continue to support
our members but industrial relations are at an all-time low.” The union agreed there would be no further strike action in this case for a month while the sides try to reach a compromise. Elsewhere, the Trust’s operating plan for 2015/16, outlined at its annual general meeting last month, deals with employment issues. It documented staff vacancy rates among employees, which Mr Bell described as “high”. On December 31 last year, 7.4 per cent of healthcare scientist posts were vacant while for administrative and clerical it was 12.3 per cent. Also there was a 13 per cent turnover of staff among healthcare
scientists up to the same date last year. The plan stated Mid Yorkshire needs to learn why staff leave and put in place strategies to keep them. It also said 85 nurses were hired from India after a recruitment drive in February, 2014. Trust human resources director (operations) Angela Wilkinson said: “The temporary closure of the biochemistry service at Dewsbury Hospital last weekend was due to staff sickness. “We addressed this temporary issue by centralising the blood sciences service at Pinderfields in order to maintain a safe service across all three sites.”
“When was the last time chief executive Stephen Eames met the unions? It was so long ago I can’t remember. The result is, this is the worst Trust in Yorkshire for industrial action” – JIM BELL, REGIONAL ORGANISER FOR UNISON