NHS bosses must look at the profit margins of the outsourced contract for security guards who are striking for better pay at Reading’s hospital, Unite said today.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is paying the Kingdom Service Group, a major corporate service-provider with a £100 million-plus turnover, a total of £755,763 a year to provide security.

But the 20 security guards have been on strike since mid-December over Kingdom management’s failure to make a decent pay offer for last year, according to Unite.