HUNDREDS of medical staff working in East Lancashire's hospitals have been told they won't get paid any extra for working on Christmas Day this year -- while ancillary staff get almost double.

Bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust say their hands are tied by nationally-set guidelines for what they can pay -- because Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day are not technically bank holidays as they fall on a weekend.

But nurses at the area's hospitals say that fact should have been flagged up before they were asked which shifts they wanted to work over the Christmas and New Year period. As a result, staff working on December 27 and 28 -- designated bank holidays because Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend -- will pick up time plus two thirds for their shifts, while their colleagues who have

worked December 25 and 26 take home nothing if they work right through the holidays.

But staff who do work Christmas Day and Boxing Day but not the bank holidays will benefit from pay on their days off.

Staff in other emergency services, including the police, fire and ambulance, will all receive extra payment for being on duty on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, despite the fact it is not a bank holiday.

A memo sent out to medical staff at the Trust's five hospitals -- Blackburn Royal, Burnley General, Queen's Park, Rossendale General and Pendle Community hospitals -- said support staff would get time and two thirds, the average overtime payment. But because a new national agreement for payment of medical staff hasn't yet kicked in, nurses and midwives will be expected to spend Christmas away from families for nothing more than a normal day's pay.

Initially, some staff thought the decision had been taken to cut costs -- the Trust is £5.5million in debt -- although managers later told them that this was not the case.

One nurse said: "None of this was flagged up to us before. I will be working at BRI on Christmas Day and I'll not spend Christmas with my family.

"Friends will get Christmas with their family and then work Monday or Tuesday and earn more for it. It might be the national rules, but it doesn't make them fair, and it should have been flagged up to us.

"We do our job because we want to help people, and we accept bad hours. But to be told someone cleaning the pots and pans will earn overtime when we could be saving lives and not get a penny more is offensive."

Steve Flanagan, regional director for the Royal College of Nursing, said: "This is something which affects nurses across the country and does cause an upset every time it happens, which isn't very often.

"It is listed in the handbook which lists the terms of the national agreements, but it is quite possible staff didn't know about it. There is a new agreement coming into force over the next year which should mean this becomes a thing of the past.

"If members feel they should have been told, they should contact us and we will look at it."

Elaine Baker, director of personnel and development at the hospital trust, said: "The rates of pay for different staff groups are currently determined nationally and not by individual Health Trusts.

"Currently there are different conditions and rates of pay for ancillary and nursing / midwifery groups."

"This will no longer be the case when the Government's Agenda for Change proposals, which are aimed at harmonising terms and conditions of service, are fully implemented.

"The Trust has applied the national conditions for the Christmas and New Year holidays. As Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day fall this year at the weekend, enhancements have had to be worked out accordingly. It has been done so that either way, staff will benefit from bank holiday pay.

"If any staff member has difficulty understanding the arrangements, they are welcome to contact the Personnel Department."