Hospital Trust spending tens of thousands a week on outsourcing rather than resolving dispute

The beleaguered blood sciences department at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT) is set to be hit by further strikes over holiday pay irregularities.

Dozens of workers are now taking additional strike action across November due to the Trust failing to resolve issues that has seen workers missing out on owed overtime and absence pay.

LTHT has admitted that they have spent over £1million (£60,000 per week) on outsourcing to mitigate the duties of striking workers, instead of using such funds to resolve the dispute.

LTHR has refused to engage in arbitration, has refused to acknowledge that there are any problems and recently agreed to make a settlement offer but then reneged and stopped communicating.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "This Trust has long-running issues with their industrial relations and we are seeing first-hand the disregard with which they treat vital, skilled workers.

"Rather than making real efforts to resolve this dispute, the Trust management are breaking yet more promises and wasting thousands of pounds of public funds trying to undermine it. Unite will not stand for such behaviour."

Strikes will now take place from 2-6, 9-13, 16-20 and 23-27 November.

Unite regional officer Helen Flanagan said: "Unite have been clear that this is a local dispute, but the Trust have prolonged the action for months focussing on nationally used NHS systems rather than the real issues at hand.

"It seems that only Unite are serious about seeking a negotiated settlement to ending the dispute, which is now solely in the hands of decision makers at the Trust."

Notes to editors

Staff work at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and the Burnley General Teaching Hospital.

They are employed by and contracted to the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which is separate from these hospitals and runs the Royal Preston Hospital and the Chorley and South Ribble Hospital. This situation is due to the way staff are contracted within the NHS