I could write a long and very depressing book about the various
and numerous ways the portering service at the John
Radcliffe Hospital
has gone downhill since I started out there as a porter in the late 1980's; the
background articles below will give you an overview. The malaise experienced by
the porters is mirrored in the civilian services too; nursing, medicine,
paramedics etc. Just a few days ago a situation emerged which is the inevitable
result of this degeneration and anybody in the know who did not predict this disaster
is a fool, see: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/a-crisis-2015.html.
Since my own very suspicious dismissal from the Hospital Portering Service,
see: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/one-year-on.html,
things have got even worse. I am in regular contact with a JR porter who
supplies me with news and information from the inside that I wouldn't otherwise
be able to know... never mind who... therefore it was no surprise to me when
this was published by the local branch of our trade union UNISON, see: http://www.ouh.org.uk/index.php/constituencies/oxford-radcliffe-trust/133-survey-shows-carillion-staff-in-ouh-are-underpaid-bullied-and-exploited.
In fact this is exactly what I myself experienced; however the situation has
considerably deteriorated since January 2012. (In fact, seeing as now I have a
civilian job, food on the table, a roof over my head and all the other
essentials of life... how much do I really
regret being sacked from the hospital?) Despite UNISON's admirable attempt to
improve things with their "Respect" campaign, my contact tells me the
abuse of staff as described in the above article still goes on. Just a month
ago he informed me that everyone was bracing themselves for some huge bombshell
and last week it detonated. I need to explain some background: the JR porters'
employment circumstances are very complicated. A company called Carillion plc
runs the Facilities departments via a PFI- private finance initiative deal.
However the contracted staff are National Health Service employees who are
"seconded" to Carillion. A large proportion of the Facilities crew,
over a quarter, are not actually employees though, neither of the NHS Trust nor
the outsourcer; they are just agency placements who have no contractual rights
to the job they do. Despite the constant reassurances that they are just going
through a "trial period" and that they'll be offered a proper job if
they make a good impression, some agency staff have been at the hospital for
over two years in that limbo state; working there, but not really a part of the
team.
Now Carillion want to introduce further changes to a service
already depleted, demoralized and weakened by upheaval. Firstly they want to
axe six senior porter posts, that's the principle supervisory grade; these they
aim to replace with two directly-employed Carillion "customer service
managers". Secondly they want to end the rotary shift system in which
porters take it in turns to provide the different sessions of the twenty-four-seven
patient service at the hospital. This would be replaced by a fixed roster of
permanent regular shifts; so one porter would work permanent earlies, another
permanent lates and another permanent nights, with separate weekend staff etc.
This would seriously reduce pay levels; seeing as weekends, nights and unsocial
hours are paid at an enhanced rate or with a bonus. It would also reduce a lot
of the enjoyment of the work through losing the interest, excitement,
professionalism and variety of rotary shiftwork. My contact suspects that
Carillion will not offer any nightshifts to the existing staff at all and will instead
employ their own night porters directly, therefore not paying them the NHS
directed enhanced rates of pay. UNISON have asked Carillion to withdraw their
proposal and Carillion have refused. There have been further meetings and
UNISON have emphasized how the Carillion proposal will be a detriment to
patient care, which it certainly will. Carillion are still digging their heels
in, but they have postponed the introduction of the new system. The mood of the
porters is rebellious and there will be a strike ballot unless Carillion scraps
it completely. Obviously I'm not a porter any more, nor am I a UNISON member; I
have no say at all in what happens, but you can guess how I would vote in the
ballot if I could. Industrial action in a hospital is a very serious matter. If
the trains go on strike a commuter might end up late at the office, but if the healthcare
professions go on strike people might die. However how many people have died
due to government policy towards the NHS? Scroll down and see the background
links for an answer. The government have been allowed to get away with their
nefarious plots partly due to NHS workers' reluctance to take industrial action;
because we all know the consequences for our patients if we do. This is the dilemma
we face, and the government have not hesitated to exploit it. However, I would
say that we're now in a situation in which it far more harmful to the patients,
on a long-term basis, not to strike than it is to strike. So I say to my Extremely
Proud and Dignified Brother and Sister Porters, do it! Down tools! I'll be on
the picket line with you, even though I'm not longer one of you.
See here for
background: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/nhs-sign-hacking.html.
No comments:
Post a Comment