Striking Merseyside paramedics have spoken of their worries amid the ongoing NHS crisis.
Issues have been highlighted by ambulance workers in Birkenhead, as they strike over working conditions and pay. Today, on Wednesday, January 11, up to 25,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have gone on strike.
Paramedics, call handlers, drivers and technicians from the Unison and GMB unions are taking part in staggered strikes across a 24-hour period. One worker said she worried her dad would become ill during the strike action.
READ MORE: Live updates as paramedics across Merseyside walk out on strike
Paramedic Jenny Giblin, who was on a picket line in Birkenhead, said: "I've been here long enough that I am on a better wage than some but I'm still sitting at home timing how long I've got the heating on for. I've got two children under three. If I'm struggling, I don't know how people on lower wage bands cope. People are living on overtime.
"I finished working at midnight last night. I've got an elderly father and I thought 'I really hope he doesn't get ill today'. We have got families and an ambulance strike is worrying for us, but if we don't do anything about these conditions there won't be an ambulance service and there won't be an NHS."
The 38-year-old, who has a 16-month-old son, James, added: "I've been a paramedic for seven years and it's definitely got worse. We used to have to queue outside hospitals at certain times, like with winter pressures, but now it's every day. Corridors are almost like wards.
"Sometimes you spend a whole shift on a corridor. It's demoralising. I dread coming into work sometimes because I know what's going to happen."
NHS England has told patients to continue to call 999 for life-threatening emergencies but to use 111, GPs and pharmacies for non-urgent needs. It said some people may be asked to make their own way to hospital, though it urged people to seek medical advice from 111 or 999 before doing so.
Ambulance responses are split into categories, with category 1 being the most life-threatening such as cardiac arrest, while category 2 covers conditions such as stroke, heart attack and sepsis. No blanket agreement has been reached on responding to category 2 calls, with unions and trusts agreeing locally which category 2 calls will receive a response during the strike.
Lisa McCabe, also in Birkenhead, said: "You used to start a shift and have time to do your checks, but now you're straight out. Since the pandemic we're going to a lot of mental health jobs and jobs that needed a GP but people can't get hold of a doctor.
"You can spend two to three hours ringing doctors to get things in place. I tend to take a lot home with me. Last year I was assaulted on a job and off work for six months.
"I've never suffered with anxiety but I was really apprehensive and it took a lot of support to come back. In the pandemic I didn't see my family for five months because I was frightened of even hugging them. It was a tough time. Now the Government just seem to have forgotten."
The 43-year-old added: "The pay isn't an issue for me personally, it's the working conditions, the likes of standing in queues. It's not unusual to stand in corridors for 12 hours without getting a break. It really is heartbreaking and also we're getting to jobs three or four hours late.
"I had an old lady who had arrested when we got there because she waited up to three hours and couldn't breathe. That really shook me to the core. I was angry rather than upset.
"Staff morale used to be really good and you used to see people smile outside A&E. That doesn't happen now and we're losing lots of really good paramedics. Going on strike is the last thing we want to do but I think our voice needs to be heard."
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