\n The walkout will affect services run by HCRG Care Group, although the provider insists patients\u2019 clinical care and treatment will not be disrupted.\n<\/p>\n
\n UNISON, the union which represents workers in healthcare, education and local government, announced the strike is planned from 8am on Wednesday, October 21 until 8am the following day.\n<\/p>\n
\n The strike action comes as healthcare workers say they have been suffering from ‘low staffing levels, excessive workloads and the company\u2019s refusal to recognise the union,’ with the organisation saying that 85 per cent of voting members voted in favour of industrial action.\n<\/p>\n
\n Staff have also expressed frustration over the introduction of a new ‘Single Point of Access’ phone system, where all phone calls are directed to a single team of call operators instead of having separate numbers for each department.\n<\/p>\n
\n UNISO says this has also resulted in slower service and an increased backlog.\n<\/p>\n
\n UNISON also said, “Severe staffing shortages and growing workloads are putting patients at risk and leaving employees struggling to cope.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Picket lines will be formed around the Orbital centre in Swindon from 11am until 2pm on Wednesday October 21.\n<\/p>\n
\n Other locations expected to be affected by the strikes include the Chippenham Community Hospital and St Martin’s Hospital in Bath, all of which are run by the HCRG Care Group.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Workers want HCRG to address unsafe staffing levels, reduce excessive workloads and formally recognise UNISON so they can raise concerns and negotiate improvements.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Tim Roberts, secretary for UNISON in the southwest said: “These are dedicated healthcare workers who want to provide safe, high-quality care, but they’re being pushed beyond their limits.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cStaff are deeply worried about vulnerable patients being left without the support they need. Impossible workloads and staffing shortages are putting enormous pressure on services.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHCRG must address these concerns and recognise UNISON, so staff have a proper voice in improving services. Strike action is never a decision healthcare workers take lightly, but they feel they’ve been left with no other option.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n In a statement, a spokesperson for the HCRG Care Group told the Adver: “We have robust contingency plans in place and do not anticipate any disruption to patients\u2019 clinical care or treatment.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Going on to say, “Patients should attend appointments as normal and continue to use the usual contact numbers. They may experience slightly longer telephone waiting times, although we expect these to remain within our required performance standards.\n<\/p>\n
\n “They may also be greeted by different colleagues when attending appointments, but will still be seen by their usual clinicians.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe recognise and respect our colleagues\u2019 right to take industrial action. Strikes are intended to cause disruption, but in healthcare we have a particular responsibility to protect patients from their effects.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe also recognise the challenges colleagues have experienced since the introduction of the Single Point of Access service and appreciate how hard they have worked to establish it and improve its performance in a relatively short time. We have made significant improvements in response to colleague feedback, including recruitment for 18.5 additional full-time equivalent
Community Health Navigator posts. Staffing in both our Community Health Navigator and clinical triage teams is now at the level required for the service.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We recognise that some systems and processes, particularly in clinical triage, need further improvement to reduce the pressure on colleagues. We are already making changes, including introducing digital tools to streamline processes and reduce administrative workloads.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We are also continuing recruitment into our administration and reception teams and remain committed to constructive discussions with all our colleagues.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOur priority throughout is straightforward: patient care comes first.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The walkout will affect services run by HCRG Care Group, although the provider insists patients\u2019 clinical care and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-808630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}