Cleaners, porters and housekeepers at Colchester hospital and other community sites are walking out for a twelfth day today over the trust's plan to move their jobs out of the NHS.

Unison says East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust's proposal is out of step with the government's recent commitment to deliver the 'biggest wave of insourcing of public services in a generation' and should be abandoned. 

Christina McAnea, Unison general secretary, recently wrote to the health secretary Wes Streeting to highlight the trust's outsourcing move which the union says goes against the spirit of the new government's thinking.

McAnea said: 'The trust's approach is out-of-order and clearly defies the goals of ministers to discourage outsourcing and ensure the NHS is the preferred provider of healthcare services.

'Staff have made it abundantly clear they want to stay within the NHS because that's the best way to ensure patient needs are met and services properly delivered.

'These plans should stop immediately.'

The trust previously told Healthcare Management its soft facilities management staff were undergoing training to make sure it was able to provide essential cover for patients. Additional help was also sought from external partner organisations whose staff were also trained for the roles.