Paramedics on the picket lines outside of ambulance stations around the North East slammed the Government for "digging its head in the sand" and refusing to negotiate on pay.
Striking workers from the ambulance service told ChronicleLive how they had been raising issues of pay, safe staffing and the need for Government action to safeguard the NHS for many years. Members of staff from North East Ambulance Service have been taking part in walkouts across the region's ambulance stations with members of the UNISON, GMB and Unite unions striking.
The strikes are in response to the Government's 2022 pay offer which would see workers get flat increase of £1,400 under the NHS Agenda for Change pay structure. Under the offer, most ambulance staff get a rise of around 4%, the Department for Health and Social Care says, but the Unite, GMB and Unison trade unions say that is a real terms pay cut, with inflation at 10.7%.
Read more: Ambulance service strikes result of 'really dangerous situation' warns County Durham paramedic
The latest action came a day after the second of two, so far, walkouts from Royal College of Nursing nurses over the same issue. Like their nursing colleagues, ambulance service personnel highlighted how they felt it was as much about patient safety and ensuring adequate staffing as about pay.
Speaking from the UNISON picket line in Gateshead, Swalwell-based paramedic Ian Phillips said: "It's sad that we are here but we have had no choice. We have spent years bringing up issues with Government and the NHS and it's been no use.
"The atmosphere here has been really encouraging. The support from the public is amazing. When I first started we would see ten to twelve patients a day, treat them and get them to be seen by hospital doctors. Now we can have days where we see two or three patients and we are waiting for hours on end [outside of hospitals].
"There are not enough crews, not enough ambulances."
Brian Dodds, another paramedic and UNISON branch secretary, added: "This is a sad day. Nobody wants to be doing this but we need the Government to sit up and listen.
"This isn't just about pay, it's about the condition that the NHS and social care is now in. Because of cuts we can't see to our patients in a timely manner."
Brian said he and his colleagues had been unimpressed by the Government's refusal to move its pay offer - especially given the connection between staff pay, the NHS's ability to recruit and safety for patients. He added: "The message we are hearing from the Government is that they have been digging their heads in the sand.
"They're like ostriches. They don't feel that anything is wrong."
UNISON's regional secretary Clare Williams added: "Today's action has gone ahead because the Government has completely refused to come and negotiate with UNISON. I think it shows how serious the situation is that they feel there is no other alternative."
Ms Williams said the union had raised issues for years but been rebuffed, and said: "The pay issue is so important because we are seeing NHS workers leaving at an alarming rate. We have a record number of vacancies in the ambulance service and across the NHS and that is impacting on patient care."
She said the Government need to sit down and negotiate with the unions - and work with them on "how we can resolve the acute NHS staffing crisis".
Earlier in the day at pickets held by the GMB union at Newcastle Central ambulance station in Fenham, ambulance worker Jamie said: "It's such a shame that it has come to this. We don't want to be here. It's not what we sign up to do."
On Wednesday morning, in the Telegraph Health Secretary Steve Barclay said that unions had made "a conscious choice to inflict harm” on patients. This provoked an angry response both from workers out on strike and union officials.
Rachel Harrison of the GMB union said: “Ambulance workers are seething at such a crude, insulting attempt to divert attention from the Government’s continued chaos in the NHS. The public know it’s not ambulance workers who have presided over a decade of failure.
“Already today paramedics and ambulance workers have left picket lines to attend to emergency calls. They’ll always put the public first. It’s time for the Government to follow their example.”
Mr Barclay said there was a need to “look forward” to next year’s pay process after he declined to review the current offer.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “We’re already three quarters of the way through this year so what you’d be saying is, go all the way back retrospectively to April to unpick what has been an independent decision by the pay review body.
“But we’re already now under way in terms of next year’s pay review process, the remit letters have gone out.
"Obviously that body will then consider the changes in inflation, the other issues that have been raised, all as part of the normal process of looking at next year’s pay, so we should look forward."
The impact of the strikes on patient care will not be fully known until Thursday, with NEAS and NHS England anticipated to share information about how services have coped during the unprecedented winter walkouts. Even before the strikes, NEAS had already spent two days this week having declared a critical incident.
On Wednesday morning, the service again encouraged patients no to call 999 unless it was a life-threatening scenario. In guidance, NEAS said: "There will be significant delays for patients waiting to be seen by one of our crews today if it is not a life-threatening emergency. Please only call 999 for life-threatening emergencies and only call us back if your condition changes or worsens.
"Where possible and safe, please consider using other NHS services such as 111 online, your local GP, or pharmacy."
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