Trade union Unison said its Dorset members, including porters, caterers and cleaners, overwhelmingly backed industrial action in protest at plans to move them from the NHS to a new company.
It will affect 1,700 across the counties hospitals including those in Dorchester and Weymouth leaving staff concerned over pay, pensions, working conditions and career opportunities within the NHS.
South Dorset Mp Lloyd Hatton as now called on the hospital chiefs to U-turn on the plans which he ‘completely opposes,’.
In a statement provided to the Echo, he said: “I sincerely hope that NHS bosses in Dorset listen to health workers on the ground and reverse their decision to set up this NHS-owned subsidiary company.
“The same bosses need to listen to all the legitimate concerns raised and work with health workers much more constructively.
“As it stands, I am completely opposed to these proposed changes to the setup of our NHS here in Dorset.
“This is a mess that we inherited from the last Conservative Government, and it needs fixing urgently. This can quickly be done with a change in direction and improved dialogue with health workers.”
Dorset NHS bosses have previously said that staff were ‘highly valued’ and would retain their NHS terms and conditions, and their NHS pension, if the merger went ahead.
That followed protests outside hospitals in Dorchester, Bournemouth and Poole earlier this year.
A date for strike action has yet to be confirmed.
Dorset County Hospital has been approached for comment over the announcement of strike action.
A joint statement from Siobhan Harrington, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Dorset, and Matthew Bryant, Chief Executive of Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare, has said that it remains committed to avoiding strike action.
They said: “The three NHS trusts in Dorset are working together to improve the care we provide to our patients and to make the best use of our resources.
“We must stress that no final decision has been made on whether to go ahead with the proposed creation of this company.
“However, if we do, we would again stress this would be 100 per cent owned by the NHS and we are committed to retain NHS pay, terms, conditions and access to the NHS pension scheme for current and future staff.
“We are keen to avoid industrial action and remain committed to working formally and informally with unions and our staff to listen to and address concerns and anxiety. Our priority is minimising disruption to staff, patients and services.”