Up to half of ambulance workers who serve Nottinghamshire could walk out as part of an upcoming 24-hour strike action, East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has said. Paramedics and call handlers will be among tens of thousands of staff to strike over pay across England and Wales on Wednesday, December 21.
Among the nine services to be affected will be EMAS. The NHS organisation said of its workforce of 4,000, up to 50 percent were members of the GMB trade union that could be taking action.
Agreements have been made to maintain response times to life-threatening calls, but less urgent calls, such as for falls, could see long waits. The industrial action comes two days after Nottinghamshire healthcare leaders announced a system-wide critical incident.
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It also follows two separate days of nurse strikes. The medical director at the trust which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital said he was "very worried" about the combination of the strikes.
A second day of ambulance worker strikes is planned for December 28. Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said the Government had left unions no choice.
“[Health Secretary] Steve Barclay needs to listen and engage with us about pay," she said. "If he can’t talk to us about this most basic workforce issue, what on earth is he Health Secretary for? The Government could stop this strike in a heartbeat – but they need to wake up and start negotiating on pay.”
Ambulance staff want above-inflation pay rises, but have not set a specific figure. Following a meeting with unions on Tuesday, Mr Barclay said the pay demands were "unaffordable" but added he was open to "engaging with unions on how to make the NHS a better place to work".
Ben Holdaway, director of operations at EMAS, said patients should continue to call for an ambulance as normal if they experience a life-threatening emergency. "Our operational teams have developed contingency plans to aim to maximise the number of ambulance staff and volunteers we have available to respond to patients, as well as clinical staff able to carry out remote clinical assessments," he said.
“However, we anticipate that on days where there is industrial action that there will still be fewer ambulances available and therefore our responses to our patients will, inevitably, be much slower on the day. Therefore our 999 control rooms, where possible, will carefully assess and prioritise an ambulance response for those who need it most, and this may only be where there is a threat to life.
“Patients should continue to call for an ambulance as normal if they experience a life-threatening emergency and should continue to access other more appropriate services for any other illnesses or injuries such as NHS111 online or contacting their local Urgent Treatment Centre."
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