Lives could be put at risk and patients face being abandoned in winter ... trends now

Lives could be put at risk and patients face being abandoned in winter ... trends now
Lives could be put at risk and patients face being abandoned in winter ... trends now

Lives could be put at risk and patients face being abandoned in winter ... trends now

Lives could be put at risk by a massive ambulance strike scheduled for just before Christmas, MPs warned last night.

GMB, Unite and Unison confirmed tens of thousands of their members will walk out on December 21 in a row over pay.

Seriously ill patients could effectively be abandoned and have to take themselves to hospital as a result of the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years. Ten of England and Wales’s 11 paramedic services are involved.

The industrial action has been arranged for the day after 100,000 nurses are set to walk out of hospitals, including casualty and cancer wards. Health bosses were already braced for the toughest winter in the history of the NHS, with emergency services under unprecedented pressure amid bed-blocking and record waiting lists.

GMB, Unite and Unison confirmed tens of thousands of their members will walk out on December 21 in a row over pay. Pictured: NHS Ambulance staff outside a hospital in London

GMB, Unite and Unison confirmed tens of thousands of their members will walk out on December 21 in a row over pay. Pictured: NHS Ambulance staff outside a hospital in London

GMB says more than 10,000 of its paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers will strike for up to 24 hours.

7 hours waiting for 999 medics 

A terminal cancer patient aged 85 waited seven hours on the ground for an ambulance after suffering a fall – despite living opposite a hospital.

Ex-nurse Keith Royles (pictured) broke his hip while cutting the grass. 

His daughters called for an ambulance. 

With rain falling, neighbours in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, put tarpaulin over Mr Royles on his patio. 

They did not want to move him in case it made the injury worse.

His family said paramedics finally arrived but Mr Royles spent ten more hours in the ambulance before he was admitted to Glan Clwyd Hospital. 

The Welsh Ambulance Service said it was ‘deeply sorry’.

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Up to 15,000 Unison members will walk out and up to 5,000 nurses, porters, healthcare assistants and cleaners represented by the union will strike at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Liverpool University Hospital.

Unite said more than 1,600 of its members will join the action. The only trust unaffected is the East of England Ambulance Service.

The unions want more than the 4 per cent pay rise they have been given by the Government but the Prime Minister has warned their demands are ‘unaffordable’.

The unions will now meet individual trusts to discuss their requirements for ‘life and limb cover’, meaning they will ensure there are enough staff to offer an emergency-level service. However, plans are also being drawn up for the Army to be drafted in to drive ambulances if there are shortages.

Rachel Harrison, national secretary at the GMB, which has also announced a second day of strike action on December 28, said: ‘NHS staff have had enough.

‘The last thing they want to do is take strike action, but the Government has left them with no choice. [Health secretary] Steve Barclay needs to listen and engage with us about pay. The Government could stop this strike in a heartbeat – but they need to wake up and start negotiating on pay.’

Tory MP Sir Mike Penning said the workers going on strike were ‘lions being led by dinosaurs’.

He said: ‘Of all the services that shouldn’t be striking, it’s the ambulance staff. They joined the service to save lives, not put them at risk. The unions need to be realistic about what the country can afford to pay them and it’s abhorrent they’re holding people to ransom like this.’

Fellow Conservative MP Bob Stewart said: ‘Putting patient safety at risk and creating this kind of fear that a service people pay taxes for might not be there for them in their hour of need is irresponsible and appalling.’

Unite continues to ballot 10,000 more NHS workers at 38 different employers across England and Wales, with the results expected later this month. The union warned it would extend the strike ballot to even more NHS workers in January as action to improve pay and staffing levels steps up.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that the day of the strike would ‘feel like a weekend or a bank holiday’ but acknowledged the Army could be drafted in.

He said the unions were trying to strike a balance between ensuring emergency care was protected while also making an ‘impact’.

Sara Gorton of Unison said: ‘The Government will only have itself to blame if there are strikes in the NHS before Christmas. Wages are too low to stop health workers quitting the NHS.’ Downing Street said that each additional 1 per cent pay rise for those on ‘Agenda For Change’ contracts – the majority of NHS staff – would cost £700million a year.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are planning to strike on December 15 and 20, with the union demanding a pay rise of 19 per cent.

Miriam Deakin of NHS Providers warned that operations would still probably be disrupted if the RCN cancelled strike action with little notice because of the difficulty of reinstating appointments.

People suffering heart attacks and strokes in some parts of England are already waiting over an hour for an ambulance.

How the ambulance strike might affect you 

By Shaun Wooller

Who is going on strike?

Three unions representing tens of thousands of ambulance staff have agreed to coordinate strikes before Christmas.

GMB, Unite and Unison confirmed their members will walk out from nine of England’s ten ambulance services, plus Wales, on December 21. The only NHS ambulance trust unaffected will be East of England.

Ambulance workers represented by GMB will also strike on December 28.

What do ambulance workers earn and what do they want?

The Government says most ambulance staff have received a rise of at least 4 per cent, taking average basic pay to £34,300.

Staff typically have additional earnings worth 37 per cent of basic pay, covering unsocial hours, geographical supplements and overtime. This takes total earnings to around £47,000 per head. Paramedics who are members of the NHS pension scheme also receive a pension contribution worth 20 per cent of their salary.

Unions say the basic salary for a call handler is no more than £23,177 and paramedics earn an average of £29,180. Unite says they want a pay rise ‘in line with the cost of living’. The GMB wants Health Secretary Steve Barclay to ‘get round the table’

What happens now?

NHS ambulance trusts affected by strike action will draw up plans detailing the number of staff they believe they need on in order to provide ‘life and limb’ cover.

These will be presented to unions with details likely to be confirmed over the next week. Unions anticipate the level of cover requested by some trusts could be higher than that provided on some non-strike days, given underlying staff shortages.

Unison, Unite and GMB will agree among themselves which staff do and do not work. The Army may be brought in to drive ambulances if needed.

What if I need to call 999 on a strike day?

Patients dialling 999 may face a longer wait to get through to a call handler but calls will be diverted to other regions if necessary to limit delays.

Calls will be triaged as usual, with unions pledging to respond to ‘life and limb’ calls. Category one calls include ‘life-threatening’ injuries and illnesses, including incidents where a patient’s heart has stopped or they are not breathing.

Category two calls are ‘emergency’ calls, such as heart attacks and strokes.

Which services might not be provided?

Those with less critical illnesses may not receive an ambulance response and could be told to make their own way to hospital or to seek care elsewhere.

Patients who rely on NHS ambulance services to transport them to hospital appointments may also be forced to make alternative travel arrangements.

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