Nurses feel ‘abandoned’ as trust remains silent on redundancy pay
More than 50 NHS workers, including some nurses, have still received no word on redundancy pay, after losing their jobs during the closure of a learning disability hospital, a union has said.
At the start of April, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust withdrew from Calderstones Hospital, in the village of Whalley, Lancashire.
It was given control of the hospital in 2017 but with an instruction to wind down the site as part of an NHS scheme to move learning disability services into the community.
“A complete and utter mess”
Zander Sumner
The closure of the hospital – referred to by Mersey Care as the Whalley Site – came with job losses for dozens of healthcare staff who were offered what the GMB union called “unsuitable” alternatives as much as 40 miles away from where they lived.
Nursing Times has previously reported that some staff were given the choice of taking these jobs or being let go with no guarantee of a severance agreement.
Two weeks later, those staff out of a job have been told nothing of redundancy pay and many have not been given P45 forms.
P45s are required to sign on for benefits while unemployed and are also often needed when getting a new job.
The GMB said the workers felt “abandoned”. Among those negatively impacted is Zander Sumner, a former healthcare assistant at Calderstones Hospital.
Mr Sumner told Nursing Times of his frustration at the delay in receiving his P45, because it meant he would be charged emergency tax levels on any new job he acquired.
He described the situation as “a complete and utter mess”, and said: “[We’ve had] no redundancy forecasts, no thank yous, no communication, nothing.
“We can’t decide if [the trust] is incompetent, vindictive or both,” Mr Sumner added.
During the initial fallout of the job losses in early April, he said he was “devastated” and that he and many others were given an impossible choice or a job they could not feasibly travel to, or unemployment.
Speaking at the time, he said: “We’re in limbo for the foreseeable future.”
GMB organiser Michael Clark said: “It is galling that Mersey Care – tasked with ensuring the wellbeing of mental health for the majority of Merseyside – are showing their loyal workforce so little respect.
“Their actions directly contradict their stated values. It would be one thing for any employer to act this way.
“But for an NHS trust, tasked to deliver mental health support, to treat workers so poorly is disgraceful,” he said.
“Mersey Care need to urgently resolve this situation. Staff need support, communication, and full redundancy payments immediately.”
Mersey Care was contacted by Nursing Times for comment and reissued the same statement that it provided in early April, when news first broke of the risk of job losses.
“We are aware of concerns among some of our workforce due to changes in working arrangements alongside the transfer of care from our Whalley site to Aspen Wood, based at Maghull Health Park.
“The decision to cease commissioning forensic learning disability services from Whalley was made by NHS England in 2017,” said a spokesperson.
“As a result, the Whalley site transferred to Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust on 1 April 2024,” they said.
“Throughout this ongoing process, Mersey Care has supported all staff to continue their careers within the NHS by offering opportunities within our trust and other local NHS organisations to protect their employment, to retain talent and minimise the loss of valuable skills and expertise from the NHS.
“We have worked hard with partner NHS organisations to reach an agreement so all registered nurses and health care assistants would be offered local opportunities, including for some to remain at the Whalley site.
“Mersey Care will continue to follow the legal framework and work alongside our workforce, staff side and partners to support staff and offer them suitable alternative roles where possible, subject to NHS employment regulations.”
