Slough and Ascot hospital staff look set to strike over NHS trust's privatisation plans

Staff at hospitals in Slough and Ascot look set for strike action in a dispute with an NHS trust over its plans to privatise jobs.  

Wexham Park Hospital and Heatherwood Hospital radiographers have voted 95 per cent in favour of a formal ballot on industrial action – the final step toward a walkout.

NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust, their employer, plans to outsource MRI scanner jobs at a new Slough medical centre but there are worries this could be a prelude to further privatisation.

Gary Palmer from GMB union, representing the workers, told the Express:

“These are professional people not normally prone to taking such action, they’re highly qualified and successful people in quite senior positions in the trust.

“I’ve spoken to them, and they’ve said they’re in fear of losing their jobs; they do not want to go to the private sector.

“And more so, they think the service will become lesser just because it will become profit driven.”

Slough Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) is a £25 million NHS facility under development at Upton Hospital in Slough.

Expected to open next year, Slough CDC is designed to help relieve pressure on Wexham Park and Heatherwood Hospital by offering patients scans including MRIs.

An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) is an important scan used to monitor and detect illnesses and injuries.

However, radiographers at the Slough and Ascot hospitals have taken issue with the NHS Frimley Health’s plan to use private contractors to do MRIs at Slough CDC.

A radiographer performs scans including MRIs, X-rays and Ultrasounds.

They say using a private company to do scans could lead to worse outcomes for patients – and worry it could mean privatisation of more NHS jobs.  

Mr Palmer represents more than 20 radiographers who work across the two hospitals.  

The formal strike action ballot – done by an independent polling agency - is expected to be a ‘formality’ but there is still hope action can be avoided if hospital chiefs agree to negotiate.

“Yes, I do believe they will vote to go on strike and take that action,” Mr Palmer said.

“But we will give checks and balances all the way through and give the trust every opportunity to come to the table.

“Hopefully, they [NHS Frimley will look at it [the poll result] and see ‘that’s quite a strong statement’.”

Strike action was the ‘last thing’ radiographers wanted to undertake, Mr Palmer said.

He added: “They understand the consequences towards the patients and they have no wish to disadvantage any patients.

“But when you’re actually fighting to protect patients by protecting the service as it is, then sometimes you have to make bold statements or bold moves.”

An NHS Frimley Health spokesperson previously said the Slough CDC service would be ‘in addition’ to those MRIs offered at Wexham Park and Heatherwood.

They said: “This new contract will therefore not change the employment or working arrangements for staff working in those hospitals.”

They said an option to ‘extend’ the private service across more of the trust’s sites was available, but this would need ‘full analysis’ and would not be based ‘purely on financial analysis’.

The trust was approached for further comment.