It will be the ninth day of strike action staged by nurses this summer after Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust bosses suspended senior nurse Karen Reissmann 19 weeks ago - on the day she was promoted as part of a major shake-up.
Trust bosses have accused her of bringing their reputation into disrepute after she led opposition to a controversial reorganisation of services titled Change in Mind. She will face a series of charges at the hearing later today.
Her colleagues in the health union Unison will strike today, tomorrow and Monday - the expected length of the hearing - and were expected to lobby the hearing at the trust's headquarters in Chorlton today.
The increasingly-bitter dispute has seen seriously ill psychiatric patients bussed to Darlington, in the north east, for more than two weeks when the two sides failed to reach an agreement over emergency cover for the wards.
The trust has also faced criticism from relatives of William Scott, who they claim committed suicide after losing his support worker and being left without home visits for three weeks before his death last month.
Trust bosses appealed to staff to cancel their walkout, saying they were putting patients at risk. But union leaders said the trust could have stopped the strike at any time by reinstating Ms Reissmann, who is based in north Manchester psychiatric unit Park House. They organised a series of protests by 250 staff against the shake-up including two one-day strikes.
Ms Reissmann said: "I believe I am being pursued through the disciplinary process because of my union activities. I do not believe I have done anything wrong.
"I continue to have massive support from my colleagues and people outside the trust, that has been a great support to me. I'm hoping the trust will give me a fair hearing and drop the charges."
Trust chief executive Sheila Foley said: "The changes we are making to mental health services in Manchester are long overdue and any reduction in services to our patients over the last few weeks is due to strike action by Unison, not the Change in Mind programme." Tweet
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Keep your chin up Karen, I saw your supporters outside Chorlton House todat.
Sheila Foley I dont know how you sleep at night or does a £100,000 plus a year salary buy the best sleeping tablets available.
Nurses are being told to discharge patients who have had support for years, Occupational therapists have lost thier individual role and nurses are now being replaced by social workers.
Privatisation is being brought in through the back door. Patients are now requiring the Police to take them to A&E in order to get a bed because there are non. Why should they thier job is to fight crime instead of supporting a flawed mental health system. You must be really proud of yourself.
Stop wasting money running the NHS like a buisness and go back to the days when Caring and not buisness minded people ran the NHS.
In response to another strike by dedicated health professionals over the blatant victimisation of their branch secretary, £100,000 plus per year 'chief executive' Shiela Foley says '"The changes we are making to mental health services in Manchester are long overdue ...." So Ms Foley you admit that the suspension of Karen Reissman has nothing to do with the performance of her job, but everything to do with your plans to transform the mental health provision in Manchester by stealth - plans for dismantling and privatisation that Karen and her colleagues rightly objected to. You condemn yourself as power-mad bully out of your own mouth.
Dr John Murphy
NW Regional Chair, University and Colleges Union
Keep it up karen & all your supporters, I really can't believe the powers that be are still trying to tell people they were in the right with their actions. Every day this goes on it costs the taxpayer, that isn't karens fault. Perhaps when all this has finished the people who are pushing to keep her out should be made accountable, personally, for the cost.