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The performance of private firms providing core services in Merseyside hospitals has been slammed repeatedly over the year.

Hospital trusts across the UK have resorted to outsourcing services including catering, cleaning and portering and the contracts have been snaffled up by big facilities and services firms.

But 2019 has seen a raft of issues and tensions that have shone the spotlight on these big companies - and prompted interventions from politicians including Liverpool city mayor Joe Anderson.

A major problem was the disparity in the wages of staff directly employed by private firms, compared with former employees of the NHS transferred as part of the outsourcing deals.

But other stark examples of how bosses of major corporations were mistreating their staff emerged throughout the year.

Outsourced workers 'lose out'

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

UNISON North West regional manager, Kevin Lucas, told the ECHO: "Core NHS services like cleaning, catering and security are best provided within the NHS.

"But sadly in recent years cash-strapped NHS trusts have outsourced many of these services. This is neither in the best interests of the health service, patients or the staff affected.

"As employees are transferred out of the NHS, they lose out on nationally agreed pay deals, and see their annual leave, sick pay and overtime payments worsen.

"This can't be right, nor is it fair.

"That's why there's been several disputes in the region this year where UNISON has stood up for outsourced workers and won them a better deal at work.

"This creeping privatisation is tearing at the fabric of the NHS and the two-tier system being created is storing up many problems for the future."

Workers have pay postponed

In April union officials blasted services firm ISS for behaving "recklessly," after an upgrade to its payroll systems meant workers would effectively lose a week's pay.

A decision to move staff on weekly pay to a fortnightly payroll meant workers would not receive wages for the first week of the new system, until they eventually left the company.

Around 600 low-paid cleaners, caterers and porters across the Royal Liverpool Hospital , Broadgreen Hospital and the Walton Centre reacted with outrage to the changes, with one worker telling the ECHO they were already "hand to mouth."

Hundreds of frustrated staff also took industrial action over the fact that ISS was paying lower rates to its own workers than those originally employed under NHS Agenda for Change pay terms.

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The company said it had offered to provide "bridging loans" to cover the shortfall and said: "We are providing a full range of support to ease their concerns and any impacts of the change, and we continue to provide opportunities for employees to discuss any issues with us

"Our open approach has proven to help minimise any discomfort the employees may feel because of the necessary change and our local management teams are working hard to communicate the right messages to everyone."

Security guards hauled into 'investigation meetings'

Another more localised incident included the decision by ISS managers to haul security guards into "investigation meetings" over alleged poor performance in the face of a shocking ram-raid attack by armed criminals on Aintree Hospital.

At the time ISS said the meetings were "routine" and told the ECHO: "ISS is committed to treating employees fairly and equally.

"Any disciplinary action would only be taken if necessary and if the results of the investigation concluded that company procedure had not been followed."

Outsourced workers losing out on £1,500 a year

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Compass, another large facilities firm, was accused of imposing so-called gagging orders on members of staff at Whiston Hospital and Blackpool Victoria Hospital during a period of industrial action.

Employees were on the national minimum wage (£8.21 per hour), while colleagues employed directly by the NHS were earning at least £9.03 - meaning Compass staff were losing out on around £1,500 a year.

Unison and Compass reached an agreement to end the long-running dispute over wages and sick pay in December.

Before the settlement, Compass employees were on the national minimum wage (£8.21 per hour), while colleagues employed directly by the NHS were earning at least £9.03. This meant Compass staff were losing out to the tune of around £1,500 a year.

The dispute, which led to 14 days of industrial action, also led to accusations that Compass were failing to get temporary replacements to undergo proper background checks.

Compass replied: "Patient safety is our number one priority and we take our duty of care to patients, their families and hospital staff very seriously.

"During industrial action our focus is naturally to ensure we have the necessary continuity plans in place to maintain the high standards required, which includes providing additional staff as needed.

"This covers a range of different roles, each with differing requirements and we work closely with our Trust clients to ensure the appropriate processes and procedures are followed, and that the necessary risk assessments, training and supervision are provided."

The firm also highlighted it had agreed a 16% hourly pay increase for domestic and catering staff with a 14% increase for security and porter employees, which it said was " above the rate initially requested."

The issue has been a cause for concern at the highest levels of local NHS trusts.

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In an interview with the ECHO in September, Steve Warburton, now chief executive of the newly formed Liverpool University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, discussed the merger of Aintree Hospital and the Royal and Broadgreen Hospital trusts.

When asked whether the treatment of staff by big companies like ISS concerned him, he said: "It does and we have currently got different models of provision across Aintree and the Royal, and obviously one of the things we would want to look at is how we can reconcile that going forward.

"The terms and conditions and the pay levels of all our staff matters to me and the trust board, but we don't have simple answers for that at that stage, but it is something that concerns me.

"The trust has made money available to ISS to sort out some of those issues over summer."