Breaking: ambulance staff to strike just days before Christmas
Ambulance staff across England and Wales have announced they will be striking this month in a dispute over pay, with services in the East of England not participating.
The three main ambulance unions: Unison, GMB and Unite have announced their ambulance workers will be going on strike on 21st December 2022.
Over 10,000 ambulance staff, including paramedics, control room staff and support workers will be taking strike action. However, unions have reassured that life-threatening calls will not be affected.
It comes as the Royal College of Nursing members are also preparing to go on strike this month throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ambulance strikes have come as a result of workers believing they are not paid highly enough for the daily tasks they are faced with.
In November, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives warned patients were dying because of the ‘crippling’ delays that ambulance crews faced when arriving at A&E.
The BBC reported Unison Head of Health, Sara Gorton said: ‘The government will only have itself to blame if there are strikes in the NHS before Christmas.
‘Ambulance staff and their health colleagues don’t want to inconvenience anyone. But ministers are refusing to do the one thing that could prevent disruption – that’s start genuine talks about pay.
‘Wages are too low to stop health workers quitting the NHS. As more and more hand in their notice, there are fewer staff to care for patients. The public knows that’s the reason behind lengthy waits.’
In addition to striking just days before Christmas, GMB has also announced its ambulance workers will take strike action on 28th December 2022.
The lengths of the strikes also vary between unions, but they are estimated to last anywhere between 12 and 24 hours.
Photo by Ian Taylor