Nearly 200 staff at Suffolk and north Essex hospitals took part in strike action on Monday over a trust's plans to potentially privatise soft facilities management services. Cleaners, porters and caterers working at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) hospitals walked out as the trust's board would like to test the market for external organisations to come in and provide the service. Placard-waving workers gathered outside Ipswich Hospital warned the decision could threaten patient safety due to declining standards of cleanliness increasing the risk of infections spreading.
The strike action, which is due to last until Friday (August 24), has been undertaken by staff at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, as well as ESNEFT-run community hospitals around Suffolk, including Aldeburgh Community Hospital. Mel Spilling, facilities team leader at Bluebird Lodge Community Hospital in Ipswich, summed up the shock of staff facing up to the potential privatisation. She said: "It is quite a big shock that they are doing this when all through the COVID-19 pandemic we worked non-stop day and night to support the nurses to make sure the patients had the best care and now they are doing this to us.
" Beatrice Bartilucci, a local organiser with public service union UNISON, which organised the strike action, said privatisation would have far reaching consequences for staff. Striking workers were concerned about the potential privatisation of services (Image: Newsquest) She.