'More than 150' protesters 'stormed' a Greater Manchester hospital building demanding a pay rise. Healthcare support workers from across four hospitals in the region joined together in a bid to urge the hospitals' chief executive to issue a pay upgrade.
The NHS support workers who protested a hospital trust board meeting at Salford Royal Hospital on Monday (September 26) say they are being 'overworked and underpaid'. The support workers currently fall into a 'band two' pay grade, despite 'constantly' being asked to complete 'band three'-level tasks, they claim.
Band two tasks include personal care such as changing bedding, bathing patients, and providing toileting help. But the support workers say they are taking blood, fitting cannulas and giving emergency care - jobs with more advanced clinical skills that fall into the higher salary bracket.
