The union says staff are ‘furious' at how the privatised supplier of pathology services has been treating them during a restructure, with threats of redundancy, downgrading and unsafe staffing levels.
Synnovis, which is part of SynLab, has a 15-year contract to run the outsourced pathology services for six hospitals - Guys, St Thomas, Kings College, Princess Royal University Hospital, Royal Brompton & Harefield - across Kings College NHS Foundation Trust and Guys & St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust.
The union says Synnovis has heavily invested in a new hub at Blackfriars and plans to migrate the majority of its staff there, leaving only skeletal essential services at each of the hospitals.
The union says more than 500 of its members are ‘deeply unhappy and concerned' over such a move. It says job cuts will lead to a deterioration of pathology services across London and a loss of jobs as staff leave due to poor working conditions.
The current and proposed staffing levels are ‘insufficient to meet regulatory requirements, which will put patients and staff wellbeing at risk, Unite added.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Synnovis, who have won a lucrative, long-term outsourcing contract with the NHS, are now riding roughshod over the wishes of its staff.
'Having exhausted all avenues open to them, they have been left with little choice but to ballot for industrial action. Synnovis need to think again about their actions before they see our members on the picket line.'
Tabusam Ahmed, Unite regional officer, added: 'Pathologists were previously employed directly by the NHS but were outsourced and are now working for a private company. This is a stark example of NHS privatisation driving down pay and conditions for workers and leading to serious concerns over patient safety.'
Unite members will head to the picket line from 16-20 December outside the new Synnovis laboratory in central London.
In response, Synnovis said: ‘We are deeply disappointed that Unite have chosen to take this industrial action, particularly in light of the agreement reached in September which Unite members voted to accept. We have remained committed to this agreement and have made significant positive progress on all points outlined in the agreement.
‘We are now working with our NHS Trust partners to enact our business continuity plans and ensure the most urgent testing needs are met throughout this period of strike. As ever, patient safety is our absolute priority.
‘We are in the process of communicating these plans to the GPs and other healthcare organisations that we work with, and will continue to keep them updated. We are grateful for the partnership we have with these organisations and for how they will work with us throughout what we hope will be a short period of minimal disruption.
‘Ultimately, we want to avoid the industrial action and continue to provide essential pathology services for patients in South East London, and we will continue to engage with Unite to that aim.'
