Cleaners treated like ‘second-class citizens’ at private hospital

Cleaners at a private hospital in South London have revealed they were paid as little as £9.36 an hour throughout the pandemic while being put at risk of catching Covid-19.

Outsourced workers at London Bridge Hospital which is owned by HCA Healthcare said they were not given correct PPE or training while cleaning Covid-19 wards.

Staff who caught Covid-19 and had to isolate claim they were not paid and had difficulty accessing statutory sick pay.

Cleaner Ramona Marredo Mendez said: “We risk our lives working here. The managers have sent us to clean areas full of infected people without PPE. 

“When I caught Covid-19 at work, I was forced to isolate for two weeks without the sick pay that directly-employed workers get.”

Compass Group, which employs the cleaners, has denied the claims, saying that staff have access to training and PPE, and are paid contractual sick pay.

Cleaners at the hospital which is located in The Shard were paid £9.36 an hour up until December 2021 when the wage was raised to £9.69. The London living wage is £11.05 an hour.

The hospital’s American parent company saw profits soar by nearly 40 per cent last year to £5 billion.

The cleaners have launched a campaign demanding that London Bridge Hospital immediately address health and safety concerns and end the culture of bullying and overwork.

They are also requesting that pay be raised to £12.50 an hour and they be given the same terms and conditions as directly-employed staff. 

One cleaner who did not wish to be named said: “We feel like second-class citizens here. Our safety isn’t taken seriously. 

“I have asthma and my safety is put at risk every single day. 

“We haven’t had proper training or basic safety equipment. We are harassed by managers and we are underpaid and undervalued.

“The pay is so low I have to fight every day to support my family.”

A spokesperson for Medirest Signature, a branch of Compass Group, said: “We are proud of our people who have worked in challenging times during the pandemic and we are committed to doing all that we can to support them and to ensure that the highest standards are upheld.

“We take the safety and wellbeing of our employees incredibly seriously. 

“All our employees have access to training, appropriate PPE, uniforms or scrubs, which are part of the hospital’s strict infection control policies. 

“No employee is ever expected to work when unwell. Anyone who does have to self-isolate due to Covid receives contractual sick pay. 

“As soon as we became aware of the concerns of three employees, we met with our team to listen carefully and discussed the points they raised. 

“We will continue to have an open dialogue with all our employees. 

“We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and would encourage anyone who has concerns to raise them either directly or via our confidential hotline.”

HCA Healthcare has been contacted for comment.