INFECTIOUS disease cleaners at Guys and St Thomas’ hospitals have begun a second round of strikes over working conditions and pay.

More than 40 members of Unite working at the trust’s Rapid Response Team (RRT) will strike for 17 days until March 28.

“RRT staff work long shifts in unpleasant conditions, cleaning and sterilising areas of the hospital to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases,” said the union.

“Yet the trust has failed to provide adequate welfare facilities such as showers, changing areas, rest areas or toilets for staff to use before, during and after their shifts.

“Staff are also unhappy about their job description and grading that means they are among the lowest paid workers in the hospital earning barely above minimum wage.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is a disgrace that workers at the coalface of NHS care, ensuring hospitals are clean and controlling the spread of potentially life-threatening diseases, are treated with such utter disdain by hospital management.”

A spokesperson for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said: "We want all our staff to feel supported at work which is why we have been working hard for many weeks to bring an end to this dispute with our rapid response cleaners. We have listened to their concerns and made several changes to address them. It is regrettable that Unite are determined to press ahead with this industrial action despite the progress we have made together. We have robust contingency plans in place to mitigate the action and ensure services remain unaffected. We remain committed to working with our staff to resolve this dispute as soon as possible."