NHS could face bill for ambulance pay deal
Scores of staff with patient transport operator Parkwood should start to receive the extra cash from next Monday.
Government arbitration agency ACAS yesterday found in favour of 90 drivers, who had been in a two-year dispute with their bosses for putting them on different pay and conditions.
But the trade unions which led the fight have now said that if Parkwood refuses to cough up, the four NHS trusts which handed it the contract will have to pay and then pursue the firm for the money.
Ray Salmon, regional officer with health union Unison, said: "If Parkwood point-blank refuse to honour this arbitration, then because it is part of a contract with the NHS, it is the trusts which must foot the bill."
New recruits received more than £20 a week less for working longer hours than colleagues transferring from Staffordshire ambulance service.
They were also given poorer overtime rates, sickness allowances and holidays in a move they argued breached the rights of workers switching from public to private sectors.
With new drivers numbering more than 50 out of the 90-strong workforce, union leaders say the cost of ending the two-tier system will be hundreds of thousands of pounds. That will be made up of wage increases, back pay and compensation of up to £2,000 per person awarded by ACAS.
They are also fighting a separate battle with the company on behalf of the other 40 staff who have not had a pay rise since 2006 and, if they win, some estimates are that the final bill will rise close to £1 million.
Although the detailed ruling of the arbitration panel chairman, barrister Professor Roy Lewis, has not been made public, health union Unison says it provides for the new recruits to have their pay improved next Monday and the compensation and back-pay to follow within 21 days.
Mr Salmon added that, while he was delighted that staff had won their case, there were wider implications for low-wage areas such as Stoke-on-Trent.
He said: "Many of these companies vying to win public sector contracts try and exploit low-wage areas such as the Potteries.
"With other larger NHS contracts in North Staffordshire moving into the private sector, this arbitration outcome will serve as a warning to them that they won't get away with it."
A spokesman for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire confirmed the arbitration decision was that the new pay rates should be paid from June 22 and the back-pay by 6 July, adding it was Parkwood's responsibility to pick up the bill.
For three years, Parkwood has been ferrying 600 patients a day to hospital appointments on behalf of the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, the area's two primary care trust and Combined Healthcare mental health trust.
Drivers who moved from Staffordshire ambulance were on £14,037 a year for a 37.5 hour week, while new recruits went on £12,938 for 40 hours.
The multi-million pound contract returns to the NHS on August 1 when West Midlands Ambulance Trust take over. Parkwood declined to comment.
Related Parkwood Ambulance links:
Ambulance drivers set to share £1m pay-out
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