PATIENT safety could be put at risk because of a lack of basic equipment for hospital porters, cleaners and housekeepers, a union has warned.

The GMB is carrying out a consultative ballot for strike action with staff employed by Sodexo working at hospitals in Brighton and Haywards Heath.

The union said staff are being asked to work without basic equipment such as working wheelchairs and trolleys for porters and mops and cleaning cloths for cleaners.

A spokesman said if the issue is not dealt with, the disruption caused by the start of major building works at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton later this year will make transporting of patients and the cleaning of the hospital even more of a challenge for workers.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust awarded a catering, portering and cleaning contract to Sodexo at the end of 2012 and the firm employs about 700 people to work at the trust’s hospitals.

GMB regional organiser Gary Palmer said “There are constant reports on the severe stresses and strains placed on our hospitals and frontline NHS clinical staff through underfunding and under resourcing.

“However matters are further exacerbated if the equipment staff requested or are expected to use is unserviceable or non-existent.

“There is a lack of fully serviceable wheelchairs, trolleys and beds. This means that already undermanned portering teams have to spend time looking around the hospital to find a means to transport the increasing number of patients, both safely and in dignity.

“This shortage can often mean that equipment previously condemned and stored away awaiting repair is being pressed back into service regardless of any danger to both patient or porter while using it. Likewise cleaners increasingly find themselves not being issued on a daily basis with the required number of clean mops / cloths etc, necessary in preventing cross infections. Morale is at an all-time low. There are also now serious concerns for patient safety.

“That is why GMB is pressing on with this consultative ballot for action to get these matters resolved”

A Sodexo spokesman said: “Patient safety is our number one priority. We are working closely with the trust to maximise availability of wheelchairs, trolleys and beds and have received additional new equipment in recent weeks. “Cleaning cloths and mops are laundered each day and sufficient stocks provided to team members on a daily basis. There is a contingent stock of disposable cloths to meet any periods of increased demand or supply shortage.

“We review service levels with the trust on a regular basis to ensure they meet the agreed standards and there are no patient safety concerns from the trust at this time.”

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