More than 20 radiographers, radiology assistants and associated support staff, members of the GMB employed by Frimley Health have opted to suspend action following their 100% ballot vote to strike.
They are fighting Trust plans to outsource the contract for MRI services at the new £25m Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) in Slough, which is to open early next year.
However, the resounding ballot result (on a 100% turnout) seems to have stunned Trust bosses, who have now invited the union to a meeting on November 5.
Gary Palmer, GMB Regional Organiser, told The Lowdown there are “indications the Trust might be willing to meet the concerns of the membership”.
Mr Palmer stressed that if the meeting does not deliver an acceptable outcome, the ballot decision will be implemented, and the radiographers, none of whom have threatened any action before, will take strike action.
Staff fear that if the new CDC contract is handed to imaging company InHealth, work from nearby Wexham Park and Heatherwood Hospitals could also be moved there, undermining the core NHS service that provides emergency imaging.
Full story in The Lowdown, 30 October 2024
