THANKS FOR NOTHING
Frontline workers’ fury as fatcat bosses don’t pay £500 NHS bonus
FATCAT bosses raking in billions from health contracts have failed to pay the Scottish Government’s £500 bonus to frontline NHS workers. It was announced in December that all health and social care staff would receive the bonus as a thankyou for their work in the pandemic. The money was to have been paid to workers such as porters, catering staff and cleaners at the end of February. But PFI firm Serco, who run non-medical services at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Wishaw General Hospital, Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary, Langlands Hospital and the Louisa Jordan in Glasgow, have yet to stump up the cash. Hospital workers said the lack of cash in their pay packets was a “slap in the face” from the firm, which unveiled annual profits of £163million last month. Last night, politicians and trade unions hit out at the firm’s “appalling behaviour”. GMB Scotland organiser Karen Leonard said: “Serco’s failure to give our NHS key workers their ‘thank you’ payment is shameful. The Scottish Government was clear NHS staff employed by PFI contractors should receive the payment and should be collaring Serco about why they’re stalling.
“It’s another example of how poorly our key workers are valued, reinforcing the case that all outsourced contracts in our NHS should be returned to public ownership.”
Serco staff contacteed the Record to tell of fears that the payment has not been made.
A porter at Forth Valley Royal Hospital said: “We were all looking forward to getting the money but I hadn’t made any plans to spend it because I know Serco – they won’t pay out anything unless they have to.
“Everyone else got their money, including those at hospitals like Hairmyres where there are private contracts with other firms. It was a real kick in the teeth.
“It is only Serco who appears not to be complying.
“People were upset. We’ve all worked really hard through. It has been a challenging time as we’ve been working in close proximity to Covid patients.
“Serco has made millions of pounds of profit from these contracts in the past year but it has been really stressful for us.
“Serco need to get their finger out and pay staff.”
Last night, MSPs demanded Serco hand over the cash and called on the Government to demand it is paid immediately.
Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This is appalling behaviour from Serco. They deserve the bonus and Serco should pay the £500 to their staff immediately.”
Lib-Dem health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The SNP announced this payment months ago and to learn some of our frontline staff are still without it is unsatisfactory.”
The Scottish Government said more than 400,000 people were eligible for the £500 “thank you payment” – including those working for private firms, adding: “We have therefore made clear they are eligible for the pro rata £500 payment and will get it.”
Serco said: “The NHS boards we work with are awaiting final confirmation on the exact eligibility criteria for our people to receive the payment.
“Once the eligibility and administrative arrangements are confirmed, we will then seek to make the payments.”