The government will not be blocking East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust's (ESNEFT) plans to privatise some roles at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, it has emerged.
In December, ESNEFT confirmed that the jobs of 1,100 cleaners, porters and other service workers will be outsourced to a private firm, Sodexo.
Following this, UNISON, whose members have been striking for more than 40 days, had called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to block the deal made by ESNEFT.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "The department is not involved in the approval of the procurement of services by NHS trusts – individual NHS bodies are responsible for their own contract award decisions and running their own procurement exercises."
It will manage the facilities in Ipswich Hospital, taking over from OCS which currently runs the outsourced service, as the firm's contract ends in April.
With this contract, ESNEFT will bring the management of these services under one contract across all its sites, including Colchester Hospital as well as other community sites such as Aldeburgh, Clacton, Harwich and Felixstowe community hospitals and the Bluebird Lodge in Ipswich.
UNISON Eastern head of health Caroline Hennessy said: “Government ministers do have oversight when trusts want to spend such colossal sums.
“They should be doing everything they can to stop this damaging decision which will mean worse NHS services for people across east Suffolk and north Essex.
“If the government can’t step in to save these jobs and services, how will it deliver its commitment to oversee the ‘biggest wave of insourcing in a generation’?”
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