STRIKES over a “two-tier workforce” at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust are escalating on Tuesday, the Unite union has announced.

Estates staff on a band-three pay scale, including joiners, electricians, plumbers and painters and decorators, have been doing the “exactly the same job” as colleagues on NHS band five for up to 25 years, said the union.

Unite raised concerns about the trust’s director of strategic performance Kathryn Magson, who has responsibility for estates and was described as “spiteful” and “self-serving” by an employment tribunal in 2023.

Judges accused Ms Magson, a former chief executive of the Isle of Mann’s Department of Health and Social Care, of “inexcusable” behaviour by misleading the tribunal, which found that a doctor had been unfairly dismissed after reporting concerns about how Covid-19 was being handled.

“In her current role, a number of staff have reported to Unite that they consider Ms Magson’s management style to be bullying,” the union said.

The trust was contacted for comment.