STAFF at a secure hospital have staged a protest and are to ballot for strike action after a number were told they face a pay cut.

Around 17 support workers Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust have been told their roles could be downgraded following the decommissioning of their service, which staff say would mean they were paid around £250 a month less.

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The workers provide 24-hour care for people with severe learning difficulties.

Bosses at the Whalley-based trust say the assisted-living area of Calderstones, where the affected staff work, is being decommissioned as part of national policy to move as many people as possible to living in the outside community.

Discussions have been ongoing for 18 months in response to changes to national policy for learning disability.

Around 80 workers and some members of their families gathered at the gates of Calderstones yesterday for a rally and march organised by their union, Unison.

They heard a speech from union representative Glenn Harrison who urged union members to protest against the downgrading and said members would ballot for strike action.

He said that a campaign of resistance to the changes would begin, that the union would be setting up a stall on Clitheroe market with a petition and that another larger protest would be organised at the next trust board meeting.

Sandra Traynor, a support worker from Great Harwood who has worked at Calderstones for seven years, said: “We work with very vulnerable people to give them a better quality of life.

“We heard about the changes a few weeks ago.

“They are making all Band 3 workers into Band 2 grade. I am the only wage earner in my household and it will have a massive effect if my pay goes down 20 per cent.”

Another female support worker who has worked at Calderstones for 13 years said she would have trouble keeping a roof above her head.

She said: “I would have £250 a month less. It would mean I would have to take a second job to make ends meet or lose my home.

“The stress and worry this is causing for us all is terrible.”

The trust’s chief executive officer, Mark Hindle, said: “We are no longer being funded or commissioned to provide these services but we have ensured alternative work for affected staff as part of our organisational change policy.

“We are committed to supporting them. They will be protected in their salaries for a year and they have the opportunity for redeployment.

“We will continue to engage with and support all our staff during this time of change.”

A spokesman for East Lancashire CCG said: “Best practice and guidance from national experts in learning disability services recommends that patients with a learning disability who are living in settings such as Calderstones should be assessed and, where appropriate, resettled in the community to live independent lives with the right level of support. “East Lancashire has followed this good practice by working with Calderstones to ensure that where patients are able to, they will be supported to live in the community.”