The longest strike in NHS history
In August 2023 over 400 health staff at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) began strikes in a dispute over pay. They have now had 50 days of strikes. Clinical support workers (CSWs) assist nursing staff on the wards. They’re employed across the trust’s sites at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge hospitals on the Wirral. CSWs on the band 2 pay scale had routinely been undertaking clinical tasks like taking and monitoring blood, electrocardiogram (ECG) tests, and inserting cannulas. They should be on at least a band 3 salary, which is nearly £2,000 a year more than they...