Furious cleaning and catering will protest outside at St Helier Hospital on Friday, March 29.

The workers, who are employed by facilities management company Mitie, claim that they will not receive a nationally agreed NHS pay rise.

An NHS pay deal was implemented in 2018. At the time, hospital porters, cleaning and catering staff were directly employed by the Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust. But they have since transferred to Mitie.

Across the two hospitals, nearly 70 members of staff are affected.

Helen O’Connor, regional organiser for union GMB, said: “GMB members are furious that they are being denied the NHS pay rise that all of their allied NHS clinical colleagues have already had.

“Their jobs are essential to the smooth running of the hospitals in the trust. They want to be valued for the work they do, but instead they feel demoralised.

“Experienced workers tend to leave the NHS for good when they are treated badly and over time this has a negative impact on patients. The shocking way these outsourced workers are being treated further highlights the importance of eradicating outsourcing in our public services.

“GMB members are now highly likely to engage in a programme of escalating action until the Trust and Mitie resolve this issue, starting with the protest on Friday.”

The protest is set to take place from 9.30am outside St Helier Hospital in Wrythe Lane.

Director of estates, facilities and capital projects Trevor Fitzgerald at the hospitals said the trust committed to resolving issues raised by staff.

He said: “It is important to note that the GMB have not engaged with us through the Partnership Forum (the regular meeting where the Trust and unions discuss any emerging concerns and work in partnership to resolve them), and three weeks ago, we offered a meeting date to discuss this matter in full with GMB and MITIE.

“During this meeting, we would aim to review the position and to outline how, between all parties, we can achieve pay parity for this group of staff.

“We are yet to receive a reply to this invite, although I remain hopeful we can resolve the ongoing issue shortly.

“Members of staff who are protesting will do so when off duty or during their break time, and we therefore anticipate minimal impact on services to our hospitals and our patients. I would like to thank those taking part for their commitment to keeping our services running smoothly for the people we care for.”