Scientists at York and Scarborough hospitals are to strike in protest over what they claim are unsustainable workloads which are putting patient safety at risk.
Microbiologists at York Hospital and blood scientists at Scarborough & Bridlington Hospital, both part of the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, will walk out.
Following a successful ballot, the members of the Unite union will be taking strike action on 30 September, 7 October and 11 October.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is a disgrace that the York and Scarborough Trust is risking the safety of patients.
“Our members have been forced to take this action as a last resort to highlight the unsustainable workloads they are forced to undertake.
“They will have the full backing of their union in this fight not only for their own workplace conditions but to improve patient safety in Yorkshire.”
The union says a biomedical laboratory was closed at Scarborough Hospital two years ago which has led to increased pressure on other units within the trust.
A Unite member, working as a biomedical scientist at the trust, said: “Staff have consistently been treated with contempt by the management team.
“The dehumanisation and lack of care for the team, including unprofessional threats to force staff to work outside of existing contracts and well above all reasonable expectations, has led to chronic understaffing and failure to retain trained staff.
“Staff have been pushed far beyond reasonable expectations and voting with their feet. The service has been led into crisis by the current microbiology leadership and the hospital and trust leadership has condoned this.”
Unite has about 60 members who conduct testing on blood and other human matter for thousands of patients across the trust. They believe the strike action will see all but essential testing cancelled and delays to non-urgent treatments.
A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have plans in place to deal with disruption to services, and we are working closely with our staff and union representatives to ensure we continue to provide safe care for our patients during any period of industrial action.
“We will continue to prioritise urgent samples. Routine testing will, however, be impacted, and we apologise to patients who may be inconvenienced by this.
“We are planning, as far as possible, to run other pathology services as normal.”