Plans by George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton to farm out hundreds of NHS staff to a subsidiary company is in direct opposition to new government guidance, UNISON said.

The board of the trust that runs the hospital is meeting today to discuss the outsourcing plans.

On 26 September, NHS England’s financial reset and accountability director Glen Burley wrote to all hospital trusts saying proposals to move health staff into separate companies, known as subcos*, would be paused.

The guidance also said any future transfer of workers would only be approved where there is clear union support, and the protection of NHS terms and conditions.

Underlining the need for trusts to halt the transfer of NHS employees on the back of the new guidance, health minister Karin Smyth wrote to unions saying any existing plans would be paused with immediate effect, unless they were supported by local unions.

As well as his NHS England role, Glen Burley is chief executive of the trust that runs George Eliot Hospital. Despite the new guidance, UNISON says his trust still wants to shift around 400 staff, including cleaners, porters, and caterers, to a subco.

If Glen Burley doesn’t adhere to the new directions set out in his own letter to NHS trusts, the union says it will consult staff about the next steps of the campaign, including strike action.

UNISON has long campaigned against hospital trusts farming out their support services. Campaign efforts redoubled as plans for a new wave of subcos began to be drawn up earlier this year.

Health workers at three NHS trusts in Dorset had voted to take strike action in a bid to fight efforts to shift thousands of them to a subco.

However, on the back of the new guidance, hospital bosses wrote to UNISON last week confirming they were axing any plans to move staff.

Outsourced staff often have lower pay and worse conditions than workers employed directly by the NHS. They are also less likely to have the same access to career opportunities and pensions, says UNISON.

Ahead of last year’s general election, Labour promised to “bring about the biggest wave of insourcing of public services in a generation.”

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The new guidance from NHS England and Glen Burley is clear, plans to farm workers out to subsidiary companies need to be paused.

“It beggars belief that days after sending new guidance about halting the transfer of NHS staff, a hospital that Glen Burley runs is trying to parcel off hundreds of its employees.

UNISON West Midlands regional organiser Ollie Hopkins said: “The NHS relies on support staff to keep hospitals clean, safe and running efficiently. They deserve the same pay and conditions as other health workers.

“George Eliot Hospital needs to rethink its approach immediately otherwise it can expect to be met by a wave of opposition and industrial action.”

  • *Subcos are companies owned by NHS trusts but set up at arms-length as non-NHS bodies. NHS trusts previously set up subcos to allow them to outsource support services and their staff, like those in facilities or administration.
  • In its New deal for working people, Labour promised to “bring about the biggest wave of insourcing of public services in a generation.” The Labour manifestosaid the new deal would be implemented in full.
  • Glen Burley is the chief executive of the Foundation Group, which includes George Eliot Hospital, South Warwickshire University, Wye Valley and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS trusts. He is also financial reset and accountability director at NHS England and sent the amended guidance on subcos to NHS trusts at the end of last month.
  • UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy.