“Enough is enough,” one ambulance worker tears up as she sits in her car, in her green uniform, waiting for her next shift to start.
It's been a long week for the North West Ambulance Service - hundreds of patients have faced hours of waiting for an ambulance, as huge demand collides with shortages of staff and resources. Ambulance trust workers, like Sharon-Lee Honey, say a walk out is long overdue.
All they want to do is the 'job they love, a job where they've helped somebody when they really need it'. But they 'just want fair pay for helping the people of this country', says Sharon-Lee.
READ MORE: NWAS issues urgent warning as people in Manchester 'posing as ambulance staff'
Staff are preparing to go on strike this week after paramedics, call handlers, emergency care assistants and other ambulance workers voted to take industrial action over pay and patient safety.
Paramedics have previously told the M.E.N they are braced for criticism for striking as the NHS heads into a difficult winter, but that patients are already unsafe after 'years' of ambulance services being underfunded and understaffed, and that conditions will continue to deteriorate if they don't take a stand.
In an emotional message, Sharon-Lee, who lives in Golborne and works in Bolton, explained the reasons she will not be going on shift, in the video shared with the M.E.N, recorded as she headed to work one evening.
“NWAS union staff are striking on the 21st and the 28th. I don’t want to strike, I want to do the job that I love.
“I want to do the job where I do feel like I’ve helped somebody at some point during their day, and helped them out of a spot where they really need us. Like all ambulance staff do.
“We have to strike. Enough is enough.”
The Health Secretary is under increasing pressure to settle a deal with unions as strikes by ambulance staff and some NHS workers were called off in Scotland, after members of two unions voted to accept the Scottish Government's recent pay deal.
Steve Barclay claimed in a recent interview with the BBC that accepting the pay rises demanded by the unions would require 'taking money away from clearing the backlog.'
Meanwhile, Health Minister Will Quince has admitted that taxis could be used to transport patients during the planned ambulance strikes. Mr Quince told MPs it is "likely" that category one and two calls, "where there is an immediate threat to life will be responded to."
But he added: "We are looking at ways in which we can provide additional support for category three and category four, including things such as block-booking taxis and support through community healthcare, local authority fall services and community support."
“We just want fair pay for the job that we do day in, day out, helping the people of this country,” explains Sharon-Lee. “So we’ll stand side by side on the picket line, not because we want to but because we have to.
“And we’ll stand in solidarity with the firefighters, with nurses, with teachers, with rail staff, with postal workers. We all need to stand together because enough is enough.
“Solidarity, guys.”
The video comes as the medical director of North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) shared his own sombre message as he stood outside in the freezing cold on Monday night (December 12). Looking into the camera of a mobile phone, he admitted that 111 and 999 services were being overwhelmed.
Chris Grant, the NWAS leader, apologised for the delays patients across Greater Manchester were facing as 600 people were left stranded without help as they waited for an ambulance.
Meanwhile, 100 ambulances were forced to wait outside hospitals across the region waiting to hand patients over to hospital doctors, with temperatures well below freezing.
Ambulance service workers have told the M.E.N. that staff recruitment and retention is one of the biggest challenges they face, and that without staff, patients are at serious risk.
At the root of all that is a need for higher wages and better pay progression, they say. At the moment, one paramedic says many people are struggling to make ends meet as they work long hours for pay that cannot support their families in the cost of living crisis.
Unite Union has announced that 1,600 workers at the North West, North East, and West Midlands ambulance service trusts will strike on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. The GMB Union also announced strike dates for more than 10,000 ambulance workers across nine trusts in England and Wales, on December 21 and 28. The pre-Christmas date coincides with action being planned by Unison too, with strike action announced again for December 21.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said it was 'deeply regrettable some union members are going ahead with strike action'
He added: “My number one priority is to keep patients safe – I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels - but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients.
"Nevertheless, the NHS is open and patients should continue to seek urgent medical care - and attend appointments, unless they’ve been contacted by the NHS.
“These are challenging times but we have accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full to give nurses a pay rise of at least £1,400 – on top of a 3% pay rise last year when wider public sector pay was frozen. Further pay increases would mean taking money away from frontline services at a time when we are tackling record waiting lists as a result of the pandemic.”
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