St George's Hospital workers protest

A dozen hospital workers employed by Mitie demonstrated outside St George’s Hospital today (4 March).

© Danny Lines/Unsplash

© Danny Lines/Unsplash

The workers - predominantly as cleaners and caterers - are protesting against 'their treatment at the hands of their employer, including frequently incorrect pay, as well as being overworked, under-appreciated and not respected'.

Helen O'Connor, GMB regional organiser, said: ‘Without these members, the hospital would simply not be able to function, but these GMB members are treated so poorly. Their workloads are so unsustainably high that the members are reaching crisis point, which will obviously be affecting service provision.

‘Patients need to be fed, wards need to be cleaned and yet Mitie can't even be bothered to pay them their wages on time.

‘Our members will be demonstrating in numbers tomorrow lunchtime to try and send a clear message to Mitie and to Trust management – just because they aren't directly employed doesn't mean they aren't NHS workers and it certainly doesn't mean you can muck about with their pay and treat them worse than NHS staff.'

In response, a Mitie spokesperson, said: ‘Our teams provide valuable services to support our NHS and we are proud of the work our colleagues do every day at St George's. It is disappointing that GMB has decided to arrange this protest without engaging with us. 

‘If we are alerted to issues regarding workloads or pay, we work quickly to resolve these. We are not aware of any outstanding issues.'

Government unveils measures to protect children from knife content

Government unveils measures to protect children from knife content

By Liz Wells 25 April 2025

The government is to introduce tougher sanctions to hold tech platforms to account for failing to protect children from harmful knife crime content.

'Ticking timebomb' of dentists approaching retirement revealed

By Liz Wells 25 April 2025

One in three NHS dentists are approaching retirement age in some areas, with hundreds of dental providers having handed back their NHS contracts in the past ...

South London trust launches campaign to tackle violence against staff

By Liz Wells 24 April 2025

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has launched a new campaign aimed at reducing violence, abuse, and harassment against staff in its hospitals and community ...


Popular articles by Liz Wells