New picket line at hospital

Staff from the bulk stores department at the Northern General Hospital are taking industrial action again in response to plans to cut their wages by up to 25 per cent.

Hospital bosses outraged bulk stores staff, who deliver disposable medical equipment, when they decided to scrap their attendance and performance payments worth up to 3,000 a year.

Strike action was taken after a vote in which 90 per cent of bulk stores employees were in favour of walking out.

They have threatened to strike for two days a week from September 10.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the city’s adult hospitals, has said it had given staff notice of its plans. The Trust has said its intention was to provide a ‘value for money’ service and measures would be taken to avoid patients being affected during the strike.