Hospital denies claims nurses 'banned from work' over ICU dispute

NHS TRUST ACCUSED OF TRYING TO FORCE STAFF 'TO BACK DOWN'

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

THE trust that runs a Nottinghamshire hospital has denied claims nurses were “banned from work” after opposing plans which would require them to rotate back and forth to Yorkshire.

The union that represents the staff at Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop also claims nurses are being denied pay - but the NHS trust says this is not the case.

Nurses at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) have previously gone on strike over proposals which would require them to work at Doncaster Royal Infirmary for eight-week periods every 12 months.

The Unite union says going to Doncaster would add at least an hour-and-a-half to the daily commute for those who drive and three hours for those who use public transport, risking “burnout.”

But the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust (DBTH), which runs both hospitals, argues that sending the nurses to work at Doncaster will help them “have the specialist skills required to care for the sickest patients”.

In response to the trust's proposals, nurses have now refused to work on any ward or unit other than Bassetlaw’s ICU.