More than 40 members of the Unite trade union who work in the RRT are to take part in a second round of strike action after no improvements to their working conditions or commitments to do so have been made by the trust.

The union says the RRT staff work long shifts in ‘unpleasant' conditions, cleaning and sterilising areas of the hospital to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases. Yet the trust has failed to provide adequate welfare facilities such as showers, changing areas, rest areas or toilets for staff to use before, during and after their shifts.

In addition, staff are unhappy about their job description and grading which means they are among the lowest paid workers in the hospital earning barely above minimum wage.

The workers are set to strike from 17-28 March to highlight their plight and put pressure on the trust to improve their working conditions. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'It is a disgrace that workers at the coalface of NHS care, ensuring hospitals are clean and controlling the spread of potentially life-threatening diseases, are treated with such utter disdain by hospital management.

'Our members have the full backing of Unite union in their fight for humane facilities.'

In response, a spokesperson for Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We want all our staff to feel supported at work which is why we have been working hard for many weeks to bring an end to this dispute with our rapid response cleaners.

'We have listened to their concerns and made several changes to address them. It is regrettable that Unite are determined to press ahead with this industrial action despite the progress we have made together. We have robust contingency plans in place to mitigate the action and ensure services remain unaffected. We remain committed to working with our staff to resolve this dispute as soon as possible.'