THE GMB yesterday condemned the forced transfer of nearly 700 northwest London NHS pathology service staff to a private company.

The service carries out blood tests for the Royal Free Hospital and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and Camden area GPs, handling around two million samples per year from blood, urine and spinal cords.

A 90-day consultation has been launched by the Royal Free UCLH foundation trusts over a ‘joint venture’ being set up with the London-based company, The Doctors Laboratory.

Under the deal, The Doctors Laboratory will be a major shareholder and will employ 690 staff currently working for the NHS.

Staff say they have been offered the choice of transferring to the private company or losing their jobs.

New staff will not be able to contribute to the pension scheme, receive childcare vouchers or take advantage of cycle schemes available to NHS employees.

The consultation paper states: ‘Staff transferring to the joint venture will no longer be eligible for NHS staff discounts.’

It is proposed that all members of pathology staff currently living in NHS accommodation will be able to remain there for a maximum of 12 months after the planned changes go through.

There will be no redundancies ‘at the time of the transfer’, but some may follow when the firm takes over.

GMB national officer for the NHS, Rehana Azam told News Line: ‘The devastating effect of the Health and Social Care Act is being felt throughout the NHS.

‘The Bill was a vehicle to open the NHS to privatisation and fragmentation.

‘This is one example of how the NHS is being privatised.’

She pledged: ‘The trade unions will ensure our members’ terms and conditions are protected and the GMB encourages anyone affected who is not in a union to contact us to ensure the appropriate representation.

‘The worrying thing is they want to make a profit out of blood.’

A Unison spokeswoman said: ‘This is the direction of travel the government is taking.

‘It’s the Tories’ intent to move more services out of the NHS.

‘That will have a long-term effect on patients and NHS budgets.’

The Doctors Laboratory already has laboratories in Manchester and Edgware and forecasts ‘a significant amount of tendering activity in the NHS pathology sector as hospital trusts seek ways in which they can lower costs and improve service levels’.

GP commissioning presents ‘further opportunities which we are actively pursuing’, it adds.

l The GMB plans to lobby a meeting of the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group meeting on Wednesday, following the announcement that Serco is targeting the Cambridgeshire Community Services Trust contract, which is now out to tender.

The contract which is worth up to £1bn was put out to tender in April 2013 by the newly formed Clinical Commissioning Group, following the failure to attain Foundation Trust status.

GMB members work delivering the services that are being tendered. These are listed on procurement website Supply2Health as including ‘acute, community, long-term care, respite care and community health, dental services; therapies and community support services’.

The GMB fears for the future of NHS services if they are transferred to the private sector.

The union is concerned about cuts to the number of jobs and the pay and conditions of the thousands of workers that are employed by the Cambridgeshire Community Services Trust.