Ambulance strike: Union fury over minister Steve Barclay's claims

Ambulance unions person reacted with choler aft the wellness caput said they had "taken a conscious prime to inflict harm connected patients".

Steve Barclay said unions had refused to enactment with the authorities astatine a nationalist level connected however they would screen exigency calls during onslaught action.

Unison said it was "utterly shocked" by the comments, portion the GMB national said they were "insulting".

Paramedics are among those striking successful England and Wales connected Wednesday.

Control country unit and enactment workers who are members of the Unison, GMB and Unite unions are besides involved.

Unions representing ambulance workers privation wage increases to support up with the rising outgo of living. They person not acceptable a circumstantial fig but reason immoderate connection needs to beryllium precocious capable to forestall a recruitment crisis.

However, ministers are refusing to negociate connected pay, saying they person met the recommendations of the autarkic wage reappraisal body.

NHS bosses are informing diligent information cannot beryllium guaranteed during the onslaught action, though unions accidental life-threatening callouts volition inactive beryllium responded to by an ambulance.

They besides reason patients are already being enactment astatine hazard owed to waiting times and the unit connected the wellness service, made worse by unit shortages.

In an nonfiction for the Daily Telegraph, Mr Barclay accused ambulance unions of choosing to harm patients and making contingency readying much difficult.

He aboriginal told BBC Breakfast ambulance unions had chosen to onslaught astatine a clip "when the strategy is already facing precise important pressure" from accrued flu and Covid admissions.

Asked who would beryllium liable for immoderate deaths during the concern action, helium said: "It is the commercialized unions who are taking this enactment astatine a constituent of maximum unit for the NHS."

But the unions progressive successful the quality rejected Mr Barclay's claims.

Christina McAnea, caput of Unison, said successful a tweet: "[The wellness caput has] ne'er specifically asked Unison for a nationalist contingency agreement. In our gathering yesterday [Tuesday], helium acknowledged that NHS unit - our section unions - person negotiated detailed, due plans for their areas."

She said the accusations were "a distraction from the government's ain failings and their refusal to constructively resoluteness this dispute".

Rachel Harrison, nationalist caput of the GMB union, said ambulance workers felt "forced" to onslaught due to the fact that the authorities had failed to perceive to them.

"The bittersweet world is that patients are being harmed each azygous day, and that's erstwhile we're not connected strike," she added.

Sharon Graham, caput of Unite, said determination had been discussions for weeks astir minimising the interaction successful exigency cases and "we don't privation patients to endure successful immoderate way, signifier oregon form".

She accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the worst "abdication of leadership" she had seen successful 25 years, by refusing to negociate connected pay.

Patients who are earnestly sick oregon injured, oregon whose lives are successful danger, are being advised by the NHS to telephone 999.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, nationalist aesculapian manager of NHS England, said radical should beryllium "sensible" connected a "very hard day" for the wellness service.

He warned radical not to get "blind drunk" astatine Christmas parties and extremity up successful A&E unnecessarily.

Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the onslaught enactment had "come astatine the worst imaginable time" arsenic the NHS is already "under immense pressure".

He said Tuesday's nursing onslaught had reduced diligent discharges from hospital, leaving them adjacent "fuller" with little abstraction for ambulances to offload.

Ambulance effect times for exigency class 2 999 calls, specified arsenic strokes and bosom attacks, are already doubly arsenic agelong arsenic 2 years ago.

There are presently nary signs ministers volition budge connected pay, though immoderate Conservative MPs judge they volition person to compromise eventually.

Asked whether the authorities would proceed to instrumentality to its presumption not to deviate from the wage connection recommended by the autarkic wage reappraisal body, Mr Barclay said this was "a long-standing position".

However, helium said unit should "look forward" to adjacent year's wage reappraisal process, which is already nether way.

The UK is facing a question of strikes this winter, with nurses, obstruction workers and Royal Mail unit besides among those walking out.

Some MPs are acrophobic offering concessions connected wage to 1 radical of workers could pb to different demanding the same, which they reason would marque ostentation worse.

Not each unions are striking for the aforesaid hours connected Wednesday, and it is hard to accidental however galore workers astatine each idiosyncratic work volition strike.

You tin usage our interactive instrumentality to find retired which unions are connected onslaught astatine your section ambulance service: