Hospital workers protest NHS subsidiary expansion plans

Hospital workers gathered outside Somerset NHS Foundation Trust's annual general meeting in Taunton on Thursday, September 17, to demand the trust abandon plans to move more staff into a subsidiary company.

Members of UNISON staged a lobby outside Somerset County Cricket Club, where the trust was holding its AGM, amid concerns that hundreds of non-clinical workers could be transferred from direct NHS employment into Simply Serve Ltd, a company wholly owned by the trust.

The proposed expansion has currently been paused while the trust awaits further guidance from NHS England, but union representatives say workers want assurances the plans will not return.

The proposals would affect non-clinical staff including porters, housekeepers, maintenance workers and facilities teams.

According to UNISON, the trust had been considering expanding the role of Simply Serve beyond its current operations at Yeovil District Hospital to include staff working at Musgrove Park Hospital, three mental health units and 13 community hospitals across Somerset.

Around 350 non-clinical staff at Yeovil District Hospital have already worked for Simply Serve since 2018.

UNISON says more than 700 workers responded to its survey on the plans, with 98 per cent saying non-clinical services should continue to be provided by staff directly employed by the NHS.

Staff "would consider strike action" if issue not resolved, union say

Speaking to the Somerset County Gazette at the protest, Helen Eccles, a UNISON regional organiser, said staff had delivered a clear message to trust leaders.

She said: "We surveyed and engaged with Somerset Foundation Trust staff and asked what do you think about these proposals and got an overwhelming response from over 700 staff who actually say we don't want our NHS employer to take us out of the NHS, we're actually really proud to work for the NHS."

Helen said the union's survey also found 78 per cent of respondents would be prepared to consider industrial action, including strike action, if required to prevent the expansion of the subsidiary company.

However, she stressed this would only be considered as a last resort.

She said: "No one in the NHS wants to take strike action. If the trust says actually we're going to break up the team, risk the delivery of quality services in the NHS, then staff have said to us [that] in order to protect the NHS, to protect the team, they would consider strike action."

Staff outside the healthcare authority AGM told reporters they want to kept within the NHS family (Image: Alex Parnham-Cope)

Staff "are proud to work for the NHS"

Union representatives argued that moving staff into a separate employer risks creating divisions between workers carrying out similar roles within the health service.

Shakina Hove, UNISON Somerset Women's Officer, said many employees have spent decades working within the NHS and see it as part of their identity.

She told the Somerset County Gazette: "Moving [staff] now also is detrimental to their mental health because this is all they've known, and they are proud to work for the NHS."

"We want to be part of the family"

The Taunton protest also featured workers already employed by Simply Serve, including Bogdan Mardale, a housekeeper at Yeovil District Hospital.

He said: "I'm coming on behalf of my colleagues working from Simply Serve. We want to be back in-house because we are proud to be working for NHS. We want to be part of the family."

Bogdan added: "This is the reason that most of the people come to work in [the] NHS, because it's about security."

The demonstration took place as trust leaders met inside the AGM, where the subsidiary proposals were among the issues raised by staff and union representatives.

Somerset NHS say subsidiary decision is "paused"

Responding to the concerns, a spokesperson for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust said no decision had been taken and the proposals remain on hold.

The spokesperson said: "We have paused work to consider whether some of our non-clinical services could be brought together under Simply Serve Limited (SSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of our trust, while we await further guidance from NHS England.

"No decisions have been made, and any future proposals would be subject to appropriate engagement with colleagues and trade unions.

"Our focus remains on ensuring high-quality support services across Somerset, while protecting colleagues' terms and conditions and delivering best value for taxpayers and patients."