We are recognising lower paid workers, including porters and cleaners, who are helping to keep our hospitals running while we deal with Covid-19.

The staff, who are directly employed by our partner organisations Sodexo and Interserve, will receive the London Living Wage from 1 April 2020, seeing an increase in their pay packets; for some this will mean a boost from the hourly minimum wage of £8.21 to £10.75.

Tony Chambers, our interim Chief Executive, said; “I am delighted that we will be introducing this and providing that extra bit of help for these workers. They are absolutely key to keeping our hospitals running efficiently, and provide a huge amount of support to our staff and patients.

“We are responding to a long-standing request from our unions and I’m glad that we’re able to implement it now, to show recognition for those, who, along with the rest of our staff, are going above and beyond to keep our patients safe while we deal with Covid-19.”

Stuart Winters, CEO Healthcare, Sodexo UK & Ireland says: “We are delighted that our frontline colleagues will benefit from the London Living Wage following the Trust’s decision. We have worked in partnership with the Trust for a number of years.

“Our hardworking dedicated teams feel very much part of the wider Trust team providing essential services which contribute to providing patients, visitors and families with the best experience and clinical outcomes.”

Phil Thompson, UNISON, co-chair, London NHS Partnership, said: “UNISON welcomes this move to improve working conditions for some of our lowest paid members, who provide some of our most important services.

"This shows the importance of close partnership working at all levels."

The London Living Wage was introduced to help people living in London with the high cost of living in and around the city. Around 600 staff who work across our hospitals will now benefit from this.