Tuesday 18 March 2025
For immediate release
Protest in Darlington over hospital staff pay, says UNISON
Hundreds of healthcare assistants at Darlington Memorial Hospital will highlight their campaign to be paid fairly with a rally tomorrow (Wednesday), says UNISON today (Tuesday).
The staff, employed by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, will gather from 11am outside the main entrance to the building in Hollyhurst Road, Darlington. They want the trust to take negotiations seriously and improve their current offer on re-grading the workers’ roles, as well as fair backpay.
The support staff have been campaigning since 2023 to be regraded to a higher wage band of the NHS Agenda for Change salary scale that better reflects a change in their responsibilities.
Their roles have become increasingly complex over the years but without a corresponding increase in their pay, says UNISON.
In February 2024 the trust re-banded most healthcare assistants to the higher band 3 but staff felt the re-banding did not go far enough due to the lack fair back pay and recognition of length of service.
The trust agreed to negotiate with UNISON representatives, but no credible offer has been brought to the table so far, the union says.
The Darlington protest comes as staff across Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have voted to go on strike as part of their own campaign on regrading and back pay.
UNISON Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “Staff feel undervalued and are frustrated by the trust’s failure to make a fair offer.
“Their employer needs to recognise the contribution of these dedicated, skilled workers with a deal that reflects the years or sometimes decades people have performed duties above their grade.
“Healthcare assistants want to have their voices heard. If the trust fails to pay them fairly, they’ll be left with little option but to consider strike action.”
Notes to editors:
– Band 2 clinical support workers should only undertake personal care duties, according to NHS guidance.
– The rally will take place at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Hollyhurst Road, Darlington, DL3 6HX. The location can be found here.
– Healthcare assistants are employed across nine of the trust’s sites. These are Darlington Memorial Hospital, University Hospital of North Durham, Bishop Auckland Hospital, Chester-le-Street Community Hospital, Shotley Bridge Community Hospital, Sedgefield Community Hospital, Richardson Hospital, Weardale Community Hospital and Peterlee Community Hospital
– So far UNISON has won £80m for healthcare assistants and other support workers through its Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign. More information on the campaign is available here.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
