HEALTH staff staged protests outside hospitals across East Lancashire calling for fairer pay deals.

The Pay Review Body Groups have agreed to increases for doctors, nurses and professions allied to medicine and the overall increase is 4.7 per cent.

But for the administrative clerical, technical, ambulance and ancillary staff the initial offer was 2.8 per cent which has just been increased to a final offer of three per cent.

Protests were held outside Rossendale Hospital, Burnley General Hospital and Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn.

Andrea Jackson, Unison joint branch secretary at Burnley Health Care Trust, said: "We are very angry that some staff are being treated differently from others. The Government is creating a two-tier health service for staff.

"We are all part of a health care team, whether we work as a cleaner, a nurse, a clerk or a laboratory technician and we all deserve to be treated fairly and equally. It was very well supported by various members of staff giving up their lunch hours to make their protest.

"We have not yet asked our members what they think of the final three per cent offer but judging from the response we had outside the hospitals they will be very angry about it ."

Unison has strongly criticised the award saying it breaches the equity clause contained in the '95 framework agreement which promised equity in the treatment of all NHS staff.

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