Hospital Workers Who Handle Samples From Patients With Infectious Diseases Have Launched An Eleven Point Six Per Cent Pay Claim

Interviews about the safety of health laboratory workers.

Scenes of laboratory technicians testing samples of body fluids and tissue. They carry out tests for a wide range of illnesses from heart disease and cervical cancer to AIDS and Lassa fever. Anglia TV reporter Chris Young says these workers feel they are the Cinderellas of the health service and the labs are frequently crowded and poorly funded. Their standard of living has dropped by 20% over the past six years at a time when their work is becoming increasingly dangerous. Tony Sillis, Senior Laboratory Scientist, says it is well documented that people can get infected when handling specimens and these are recognised as industrial diseases for Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers (MLSOs). Trade union representative Roger Spiller of The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) says that lack of resources has caused stress to their members, but they maintain their professionalism. He says the health service is going to burst at the seams in the next year or two. The laboratory technicians work behind the scenes so their service is not seen and appreciated by the public. Dr Philip Roberts of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital says that there is a risk of infection for lab workers. They are trained to avoid risk but there is some degree of danger such a “needle stick injuries” when handling syringes which might transfer diseases such as hepatitis. The reporter states that a Department of Health spokesman said they were “not going to get into a slanging match” with laboratory staff at this early stage in the pay claim. This short video was made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Keywords

Health services; National Health Service; Hospitals; Laboratories; Health and safety at work; Industrial disputes