Nationalise NHS cleaners - not the solution but a start

markmcdonald Sat Oct 13, 2007 at 11:16:21 AM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

Before I became a Barrister, I worked for the NHS for 15 years. I started when I was 16 as a general Porter in my local hospital. I later moved to the A&E where I worked as an Orderly and underwent training to become an Anaesthetic Technician. I spent many years as a shop steward for NUPE fighting against the numerous cutbacks under the then Conservative Government.




There were many bad times, but one of the most heartbreaking, was when the cleaners in my hospital were privatised. On a Friday in November, they were all sacked, the following Monday most of them were re-employed, this time by a private company.  Under the new regime, they worked more hours with less pay and there were of course less workers. 


The thing about the NHS and what many simply don’t get, is that it thrives on goodwill. The cleaners I knew, like all hospital support staff, took pride in their work. But it did not stop there, they helped out when a patient needed some water, or a bed needed to be moved, the cleaners would chip in and help wherever they could.  You knew the name of your cleaner who was allocated to the department, the one in my unit was called Jean, and she was fantastic.  Sadly, she was one of the cleaners not re-employed on the Monday – too old.


Privatisation ripped the heart out of the NHS’ cleaners, morale went with it along with goodwill and yes pride in their work. That is why we should re-nationalise our cleaners. Incidentally, it would be a brilliant political move.  I am not so naive to suggest that this would solve all the problems with hygiene within the health service - much has been done, there is still much to do.  But it seems clear to me that the lack of accountability and direct control as well a sense of belonging of cleaners has led to a substantial reduction in cleanliness.  A start would be to re nationalise them. 




tags: , , (all tags)

Display: Sort:
Nationalise NHS cleaners - not the solution but a start | 11 comments (11 topical)

Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#1)

by grayee on Sat Oct 13, 2007 at 01:05:28 PM GMT

Well said Mark.  For the NHS to work it there has to be a public service ethos – from top to bottom.  Treating the privatised manual workers in hospitals as mere “contractors” and as a separate “under class” is divisive and destructive.  You need a “joined up” work force to pull together to provide quality and efficient services.


Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#5)

by Wilberforce on Sat Oct 13, 2007 at 09:35:10 PM GMT

Hear, Hear. A much needed move.

Better pay for NHS frontline and operational staff, and less 'consultants' should be hot on its heels.


[ Parent ]

Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#6)

by flyingrat on Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 10:30:57 AM GMT

Excellent article.

 Never mind this almost sexist "Matron" stuff, what needs to happen is this:

 1. recategorise cleaning as a clinical service, just like radiography or physiotherapy

2. take it back in-house with adequate ringfencing of funding

3. PUT THE BLAME FIRMLY WHERE IT LIES, WITH THE CONSERVATIVES, FOR GETTING US INTO THIS MESS IN THE FIRST PLACE.   

(sorry for shouting, but it needs saying loud and often. No more tinkering, sweep this madness away) 


[ Parent ]

Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#7)

by Wilberforce on Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 10:49:20 AM GMT

Yes, we are still cleaning up Tory shit!

They would gut the NHS if they got hold of it again. But similarly, we need to make concrete improvements whilst we can.


[ Parent ]

Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#11)

by alexswanson on Tue Oct 16, 2007 at 01:48:58 PM GMT

Oh come on, Labour's been in power for more than ten years. Keeping a building clean isn't rocket science. Face it - you've been in charge, you're responsible.


[ Parent ]

Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#2)

by champagnesocialist on Sat Oct 13, 2007 at 02:14:15 PM GMT

I agree totally - it was scandalous that the cleaning contracts were awarded on the basis of cost and therefore destroyed the goodwil of those employed. Whatsmore contractors only do what they are paid to do - nothing more and can always blame someone else when anything goes wrong. Added to this is the professionalisation of nursing (not in itself a bad thing) which I think means that they see themselves as not being worthy to do cleaning.

I think it would an excellent idea if they were employed again directly by the hospitals/ NHS trusts whatever as they would then have a stake in the service and hopefully would take more pride in their work. Also how about extending benefits such as the 'key' worker housing schemes to these staff - without cleaners hospitals would grind to a halt and therefore there is no more a key worker than cleaners.


Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#3)

by rwendland on Sat Oct 13, 2007 at 03:41:01 PM GMT

I agree. But I wonder if an unfortunate side-effect of the Equal Pay Act is making this more difficult, and is an incentive to privatise services. NHS staff are subject to equal pay, so cleaners (often women) are given pay the same as comparable workers (maybe porters); significantly above minimum wage. But if a service is privatised cleaners no longer have to be paid similar to comparable NHS workers, so it can be done cheaper.

This happened I believe in the recent Freemantle fiasco. Barnet Council gave (mainly women) care home workers equal pay under a Single Status Agreement, but soon afterwards transfered the care homes to Freemantle (a charity). A few years later, when finances are squeezed, Freemantle are imposing new T&Cs that effectively reverse the equal pay improvements the council made, despite the fact the council still fund the service through Freemantle.

Privatisation of services seem an easy way for employers to avoid equal pay obligations. What should be done about this? 


Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#4)

by rwendland on Sat Oct 13, 2007 at 06:59:22 PM GMT

NB There have been various legal cases in this area, but they seems to amount to no effective long-term protection of equal pay comparability after privatisation through TUPE:

I was disappointed I couldn't find any good and recent union guidance on this, best was this 2001 UNISON doc.


[ Parent ]

Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#9)

by markmcdonald on Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 01:03:34 PM GMT

My experiences of private units inside a NHS hospital are:


i. The cleaners and support staff are allocated to the specific ward full-time and so not shifted around like the rest of the hospital.
ii. The private unit pays more.
iii. They have more cleaners.
iv There are not as many patients and so less to clean.
v. The units are smaller.
vi. The work conditions are substantially better.


Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#10)

by Group51 on Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 11:46:39 PM GMT

I was at Lewisham Hospital recently, and reading their little brochure it did seem to focus a lot on the cleaners, stressing that they were NHS employees.  What I saw of the hospital, it looked spic and span.  Just an anecdote.


Re: Nationalise NHS cleaners (#12)

by Richard89 on Sun Oct 21, 2007 at 11:41:01 PM GMT

Yes, I agree with this wholeheartedly. If the state has more control over trouble spots within the NHS, then they can at least turn their full attention to it and try to rectify problems. How can the public blame the government for shoddy service when it's beyond their control? I also think as well as nationalising cleaners, power should be decentralised as much as possible. Instead of trying to meet targets, cleaners, and other NHS professionals, should be allowed to get on with their job, and taking directions from people who know the dynamics of what they're taking on.


Nationalise NHS cleaners - not the solution but a start | 11 comments (11 topical)