Around 670 staff at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be brought back in-house on 1 April this year.
Staff at two hospital sites, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen, who work as cleaners, porters, caterers and in other domestic services will be transferred onto NHS terms and conditions once the outsourced contracts come to an end at the end of March.
The move comes after a merger of hospital trusts in Liverpool in 2019, creating Liverpool University Hospitals NHS foundation trust, which left staff in similar jobs on vastly different terms and conditions depending on whether the services at their hospital were provided in-house or outsourced.
The announcement is the latest of number of instances of insourcing at the trust with other services such as security and decontamination already brought back since 2019.
Since the merger, UNISON’s Liverpool hospitals branch have campaigned strongly for the insourcing of the services at the earliest opportunity.
They argued that not only is it beneficial for the community on public health grounds, in that it will allow for improved quality and integration of services, but that, in an area of high deprivation, bringing staff onto better pay and conditions supports the local economy as well as the workers.
In harmonising the terms and conditions of these types of jobs across the trust, the chief executive of the trust echoed these sentiments, saying the decision “delivers on our vision to support communities to live healthier happier, fairer lives.”
For the staff, a move to Agenda for Change terms and conditions will likely represent a significant pay increase as well as improvements to leave and pension offerings.
Speaking of the decision Joe Baldwin, chair of UNISON Liverpool hospitals health branch, said: “We welcome the decision to bring this service back into the NHS.
“We have been campaigning for a long time for these members to be afforded the same pay and conditions as those of us who work directly for the NHS.
“This is also about pensions and access to wider opportunities and staff benefits. We are ‘One NHS’ and our members in this service are a vital part of our health service.”
