Strike action at Wexham Park Hospital is looking more likely after members of the GMB and Unite unions were balloted.

The 1,000 porters, housekeepers, cleaning, security and catering staff that work for the Frimley NHS Foundation Trust that runs Slough’s Wexham Park and Ascot’s Heatherwood hospitals are up in arms over management plans to set up a subsidiary company to take over non-clinical services - a move seen by some staff and their union as privatising their jobs.

There have been protests outside Wexham Park and Heatherwood - with staff insisting the hospital management has failed to answer crucial questions about their wages, pensions and working conditions. This week Gary Palmer, regional organiser for the GMB said the result of the strike ballot would be announced on Monday at noon.

Advance reports suggest there may well be overwhelming support for a series of one day strikes and a work to rule.