Joanne Kaye-Smith, UNISON's Regional Head of Health said:
'This is an unprecedented contract term in the public sector and raises serious issues about what happens if this doesn't work and the contract needs to be withdrawn. We have already voiced our substantial doubts about whether or not this will in fact improve the service or whether removing the ability to produce sterile equipment within each hospital might impact on infection rates or might result in operations being cancelled because equipment is not available. We know that where this has been introduced elsewhere in the country, surgeons have expressed serious concerns on the deterioration in standards.'
'We have also questioned the impact on the environment of lorries delivering equipment across this region whereas they are now provided locally. We now learn that Decon Sciences will be given this work for an astonishing twenty years. This is a term of security none of our members could ever achieve and it would be extremely unlikely that this would be awarded to a public sector employer for this length of time'
'UNISON's concerns are heightened by the fact that many Trusts are also tied in to large penalty clauses if they decide to pull out of the contract - which are understood to range from over £100,000 to £300,000 if an individual Trust decides not to proceed, even though no Trust has yet formally decided to sign up to the Contract. This feels like Trusts are damned if they sign up to twenty years of this contract - and damned if they don't, to huge penalty clauses, money which would be removed from patient care.'
