HUNDREDS of NHS workers left on inferior contracts when they were brought in-house more than four years ago have called off a strike after directors agreed to consider honouring their demands, the United Voices of the World (UVW) union announced today.

UVW general secretary Petros Elia said that the more than 300 facilities workers at St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (GESH) were the only ones within the NHS not on the 2004 Agenda for Change (AfC) terms and conditions.

According to UVW, they have collectively lost an estimated £35 million in pay as a result, although they recently won a concession from GESH to make good a £1.5m shortfall in their pension contributions.

Previously employed by outsourcing firm Mitie, the predominantly ethnic minority cleaners, porters and caterers were poised to strike this month.

Mr Elia said that while “strike action is paused for now, our members are clear — they will hold the board to account every step of the way and if it is not agreed to treat them as equals and give them AfC contracts, then strike action will commence.” 

St Heliers Hospital porter Farrokh Hormoz said: “The lowest-paid staff have been ignored for many years and, only now that hundreds of us are all ready to strike, they are finally starting to listen.”

A spokesperson for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust denied that the workers had been excluded from AfC terms and conditions when brought in-house in 2018 and 2021, adding: “These terms were agreed by colleagues at the time. However, we are carrying out a review of staff contracts, pay and conditions in consultation with colleagues and trade unions.”