Hospital staff in East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire to receive four years of back pay

Over 1,500 hospital employees across East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire will receive four years of back pay under a new agreement between Unison and the NHS Humber Health Partnership. The deal recognises healthcare assistants who have been performing duties beyond their pay grade and will move them to a higher band on the NHS pay scale.

Unison said the affected staff had been carrying out clinical tasks such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram (ECG) tests and inserting cannulas, which should have attracted higher pay. The back pay will be dated to April 2021. Rachel Waters, Unison’s Hull and East Riding health branch secretary, said the deal “ensures hundreds of frontline NHS workers are finally paid properly for the work they do”.

Broad agreement across multiple hospital sites

The agreement covers workers at hospitals in Cottingham, Grimsby, Goole, Hull and Scunthorpe. A spokesperson for the NHS Humber Health Partnership said the decision was part of a wider national change but welcomed the local collective agreement, describing the healthcare assistants as “valued members of staff”.

The arrangement follows similar regrading earlier this year for maternity support workers employed by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust.

Linked to wider pay campaign

Unison described the development as another success of its Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, which it says has secured more than £200 million in back pay for over 40,000 healthcare workers since 2021.

Andrea Smith, Unison’s Grimsby, Goole and Scunthorpe health branch secretary, said: “Staff have been carrying out duties above their pay grade to make sure patients get the best possible care for years. It’s only right that they are regraded and fairly compensated for the work they’ve done previously.” Ms Waters added that the news would come as “a welcome pay rise in time for Christmas” for many hospital workers.