HEALTHCARE workers at a Merseyside hospital are to step up their strike action over pay.

More than 20 staff at Arrowe Park hospital in the Wirral care for patients who have undergone operations.

Their union Unite says they are wrongly graded for the jobs they do and have been underpaid by £8,000.

The workers staged strike action on April 16 and 17, May 7 to 9, 23 and 24, and June 3 to 6. They will now walk out from July 1 to 7.

Unite regional officer Derek Jones accused the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust of “behaving appallingly.”

“It knows full well it is in the wrong but it is failing to acknowledge the roles and responsibilities of these vital staff and to pay them their proper pay,” he said.

He said the workers “are prepared to take any strike action needed to force the trust to come back to the negotiating table.”