COUNCIL staff who deliver hospital equipment to “high risk” patients in their homes say they are missing out on danger money payments afforded to other workers.

Cordia employees who work for the Equipu department claim they have been deliberately under scored in the points system that determines if staff qualify for Working Context and Demands (WCD) payments.

Staff working for the council’s largest Aleo deliver equipment to allow patients recovering from surgery to return to their own homes.

Payments can range from £600 to £1700 each year on top of the employee’s annual salary. The city’s janitors have been involved in industrial action over the same issue.

Staff are scored in a number of categories including; the physical demands of the job, the amount of time spent outdoors, potential risk to health and safety and exposure to distressing situations.

Employees say there is a risk to personal safety as they can be tasked with delivering to patients with a history of violence, alcoholism or sex offences.

Workers also argue their role can be distressing because they are required to collect equipment from recently bereaved families. One staff member, who asked not to be identified, said: “Like the janitors, we have been under-scored on the points system.

“If you score over 45 you get a WCD payment. Conveniently, we have been scored at 43 points.

“We deliver beds in the rain, grab rails in the rain and we don’t seem to qualify for this payment.

“We deliver far and wide from Glasgow to Alexandria and as far as Bigger in South Lanarkshire.

“There are uplift teams who pick up equipment from bereaved families who break down crying and we often try to console them. I have personally been in rooms where open coffins are next to our equipment.

“How these points are not awarded for this type of working is totally unbelievable. We consider this to be a fraudulent practice to save money.”

A Cordia spokesman said: “We have a robust process in place for dealing with grievances. This process is underway.”