Updated Burnley General Hospital NHS patients in Blackburn and Burnley are being warned that test results may be delayed and other services affected, as biomedical scientists employed by East Lancashire NHS Trust begin three weeks of strike action today (Monday), in a dispute over unpaid back pay. The strike, involving 21 biomedical scientists who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, is a result of the trust failing to honour an agreement made in 2019 to upgrade the scientists from band 5 to band 6 on the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale. The affected workers are owed back pay between several hundred pounds to £8,000. The underpayment problem dates back to 2010 for some of the affected scientists.