East Lancashire blood science workers extend holiday-pay dispute into November

Blood science staff supporting two East Lancashire hospitals will strike for another four weeks as a long-running dispute over holiday pay continues.

Unite members working at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Burnley General Teaching Hospital will walk out from 2–6, 9–13, 16–20 and 23–27 November. The workers analyse urgent and routine blood samples and support wider diagnostic services, including transfusion, haematology and biochemistry work.

The dispute concerns how variable earnings, including overtime, are reflected in holiday and absence pay. Unite claims employees have lost thousands of pounds and says the trust withdrew from a proposed settlement. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has previously said that, after receiving advice from NHS England and NHS Employers, it believes its current holiday-pay calculations are correct.

The union says the trust has acknowledged spending more than £1 million—approximately £60,000 a week—on external providers and NHS partners to maintain testing capacity during the industrial action. The trust said outsourcing was expensive but necessary to minimise disruption and protect safe services, adding that it remained committed to finding a resolution.

Blood testing across East Lancashire has faced disruption since the walkouts began in June, affecting hospital services and GP-requested tests. Urgent and clinically critical work has been prioritised, but routine testing capacity has previously been substantially reduced, creating cancelled appointments and additional work for primary care teams.

Although the affected laboratories are based at hospitals operated by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, the striking employees are contracted to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust under the county’s pathology arrangements. Other hospitals in Lancashire are not part of the dispute.

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