Support Wirral Clinical Support Workers – the Long Strike
Recognise CSWs for the job they do – band 3
Martin Ralph
Clinical Support Workers (CSW) at the Arrowe and Clatterbridge NHS hospitals began their action for the recognition of their skills and experience at the end of August with a 48-hour strike. Several hospital trusts, including many in the North of England agreed to move CSWs up to band 3. But the Wirral Trust did not listen and the CSW strike is now the longest strike in NHS history. Shame on the Trust leadership of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on the Trust.
The fighting and inspiring spirit to win shines through all the pickets.
Currently they are employed on band 2 but CSWs routinely undertake clinical tasks above their pay band, such as taking and monitoring blood, performing electrocardiogram (ECG) tests, inserting cannulas, and assisting registered nurses in other clinical duties.
Interview on the picket line:
Who are you, what work you do and why you are on strike?
“I am Nikki Stockwell, I am a Clinical Support Worker at the Clatterbridge hospital site of the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Our picket of 150 CSWs today is at the Arrowe Park hospital site, and are striking because we are only recognised and paid as band 2, but we are doing band 3 duties and have been doing those duties for many years.
We handle all patient specimens; it mentions that in our job description but over the years those tasks have grown and grown in responsibility and we are doing a huge amount. We carry out patient handovers and we report to the surgeons if they need any results. The skills and knowledge that we have give us the tools needed to recognise what the results mean that we pass on to the surgeon. They then decide whether they need to test a patient or talk to them. We also work in the Flexible Endoscopy room cleaning the scopes.
The surgeons speak to us directly if they want us to take a specimen and say how it should be labelled. We go to the breast clinic to take specimens which must be labelled correctly and then take to X-ray in a professional manner. All specimens must be handled and delivered safely. We pass relevant information on to radiographers, such as messages from the surgeon and sometimes show them how the surgeon wants the specimen positioned, then we return the result and report back to the surgeon what the radiographers have said. The surgeon will trust you with information when they do not ask a scrub nurse, they will come directly to a CSW. We are band 2s not band 5s.
The jobs we are doing are at a band 3 level and we should be recognised for that. We are just as good as other CSWs in other trusts who are on band 3.
The trust is refusing to regrade us. They agreed to the 2018 back pay but not to regrade.
Our strike coincides with the start of the BMA strike and they are welcome to join us. We will be on strike for three weeks in January standing strong together. In solidarity.”
Another group of CSW pickets who work in theatre responded saying,
“Our knowledge and skills are always developing. Some of us have been doing the job for 30 years. This dispute has been going on for more than a decade. Agenda for Change (AfC) helped the band 1s, but they never changed those on band 2 to band 3.”
“We go above and beyond our job descriptions. Since I started in theatre all they do is add to our job description of band 2. The AfC meant band 1s went to band 2, but they never increased band 2s to band 3, AfC didn’t help us. I have been here for 20 years but we did not have the power to fight for change, now we do.”
“We may suspect a patient has a medical issue and will pass this on to the doctor to review. We are so hands-on with a patient we are often the first to spot a change in a patient’s condition.”
“CSWs are specialist according to the area we work in. We carry out communication with patients, make patient physiological observations, support patients with nutritional issues as a dietetic assistant, help people learn to walk again.”
“We pass on test information for the diagnosis of medical conditions as a radiography assistant. We could also be part of the orthotic, podiatry and many other healthcare teams.”
“We do weights, bladder scanning, moving beds. We are a very important interface between the patients, we are the eyes and ears of the team.”
“The senior management told us they were not aware of the problem. Of course, they were. We are looking after 27 patients in a ward. The Trust proposal for regrading would exclude many CSWs.”
Ryan Pierce, CSW worker says, “In every press release the Trust say they remain open and want to discuss with us. But they have closed the door and they are unwilling to move. They blame CSWs and Unison. The C.E.O could stop this now; she is the one to blame. The Trust leadership are failing the patients and the CSWs.”
