‘We want to stay in the NHS: for ourselves and future generations’

Susan Ratchford, Michael Purcell, Hazel Leatherbarrow and Jeanette Alcker are four UNISON health members who are on strike today. More than 500 UNISON members are in dispute with Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust over the outsourcing of their jobs to a ‘wholly owned subsidiary’. At last week’s UNISON conference, they chatted to Sara Gorton, UNISON’s head of health, about why they’re going on strike, their passion for the NHS and their determination to protect our health service from privatisation by the back door. Sara Gorton: Tell me about what has happened in your trust. Susan Ratchford: The trust underestimated the strength of staff’s feeling about their jobs being transferred out of the NHS. Staff want to remain in the NHS. They believe it to be a family and they want to protect the NHS for future generations. They feel they are being separated from that. Sara Gorton: But your employer is acknowledged as a good employer – they win awards. And the services that are currently under threat are services that have won countless awards. Hazel Leatherbarrow: Yes, we’ve won cleanest hospital for four years running. Sara Gorton: And catering services have won awards too. How do people feel about working at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh? Susan Ratchford: People feel so passionate about working for the NHS. They’re long serving staff. People who didn’t enjoy their job wouldn’t stay somewhere for so long. It’s truly a passion for them. Hazel Leat...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News health health care hospitals NHS one team for patient care outsourcing Sara Gorton wholly owned subsidiaries Source Type: news