STAFF at Colchester Hospital are to vote on whether to strike over plans to 'sell off' their jobs, UNISON has today announced.

Hundreds of cleaners, porters, caretakers and other facilities staff at Colchester Hospital will be balloted over industrial action.

Facilities staff at several East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) community sites are also balloting on strikes.

ESNEFT also runs Ipswich Hospital, where facilities are run by private company OCS.

The union says the trust should have taken the opportunity to bring all services back in house to improve the quality of care for patients.

Colchester estates and facilities were previously outsourced, but hospital bosses brought them back in house saying it was necessary to gain greater control over service delivery, according to UNISON.

UNISON Eastern regional organiser Sam Older said: “Staff are still shocked at the callous decision to sell off their jobs.​

“It’s hard to fathom who is supposed to benefit from the decision to put these services out to tender, but it’s certainly not staff or patients.​

“These health workers are proud to work for the NHS and proud to put patients first. They don’t want to strike but they don’t want to be sold off to the lowest bidder either.​

“The trust can easily remove the threat of industrial action by scrapping these uncaring plans immediately.”

Workers also fear their pay and conditions could come under attack from a new provider looking to make the contract profitable by cutting staff costs.​

Housekeeper Charlotte Flavell said: “I love working for the NHS and the feeling of being a part of the team. Even at the lowest band, we play our part and make a difference.​

“I am devastated that hospital managers want to outsource 'soft' facilities. I feel let down, hurt and unappreciated for all the hard work I have given the trust.

"We lost colleagues during Covid and many of us got it. Now this is the thanks we get.​

“Staff feel like they're just being kicked to the curb and that a very uncertain future awaits us. Everyone wants to stay working for the NHS.”

ESNEFT chief exec Nick Hulme said: “We continue to work closely with our staff and our staff side colleagues, including Unison.

"It is our commitment that we continue our engagement through the coming months. From the Trust perspective, we have already had a number of helpful conversations.”