Cleaners, porters, housekeepers and other facilities staff have taken more than 40 strike days since August to try to stop the trust's plans to sell their jobs out of the NHS to a private contractor. Unison says outsourcing would hit patients as well as pose a threat to staff pay and conditions.

However, the health workers were told last week that the trust has now awarded a single contract covering the facilities staff currently employed directly by the NHS – as well as some already outsourced workers – to private company OCS, says the union.

Unison believes the outsourcing flies in the face of the Labour's Make Work Pay document, which promised to ‘bring about the biggest wave of insourcing of public services in a generation'.

Any NHS contract worth more than £20m has to be signed off by the Cabinet Office under government procurement rules, says Unison. The union is urging ministers to block the deal.

Unison Eastern regional secretary Tim Roberts said: 'The East Suffolk and North Essex trust has yet to make any positive case to sell these workers out of the NHS despite months of trying. It's a false economy that would damage patient care.

'The government has made welcome pledges on bringing essential services back under public control. Now is the time for ministers to make good on their words and halt these ill-thought-out plans.'

I response, the trust said: 'East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust board has decided to contract all soft facilities management services to an external partner, moving to a single, consistent approach across all its sites. These services include catering, housekeeping, cleaning, portering and security.

'Following a competitive tender exercise, including evaluation of the shortlisted bids – involving clinical and non-clinical trust staff – a preferred partner has been chosen to deliver these services.'