Ambulance strikes: Unite announce six new strike dates

Unite the national has announced 1,500 ambulance workers volition onslaught connected six other days crossed February and March.

Staff crossed aggregate ambulance trusts volition onslaught connected 17, 20 and 22 February and 6 and 20 March, Unite told the BBC.

Unite workers volition besides articulation nurses and ambulance unit represented by the GMB striking on 6 February successful the biggest NHS walkout successful this dispute.

Ms Graham said: "People are dying arsenic we talk due to the fact that of waiting times and the clogging up of the NHS."

She called connected Rishi Sunak to personally intervene connected wage negotiations.

"If they don't lick the wage crisis, they can't lick the situation of the workforce, which means that the NHS is connected its knees," she said.

The Unite national has announced a full of 10 caller onslaught dates for its ambulance workers implicit the adjacent 2 months, successful an escalation of the quality implicit pay.

Ambulance spot workers volition beryllium striking on:

Four of the caller dates person been announced to coincide with wide walkouts of ambulance unit represented by the GMB.

This means walkouts by unit including paramedics, telephone handlers and enactment workers volition instrumentality spot successful 8 of the 10 English ambulance services on with the nationalist Welsh work volition instrumentality spot connected 6 February and 6 and 20 March.

Under commercialized national laws, each unions volition person to supply exigency cover.

Ms Graham said workers volition guarantee "proper minimum screen due to the fact that that is thing that's truly important to us".

"Nobody wants lives to beryllium lost," she added.

But the governments successful England and Wales person fixed NHS unit an mean of 4.75%, with everyone guaranteed astatine slightest £1,400 - arsenic recommended by the autarkic NHS Pay Review Body.

That is little than fractional the complaint of inflation, though latest figures amusement the complaint astatine which prices are rising has started to slow.

Meanwhile, patients are being warned to expect wide disruption to services connected Wednesday and Thursday due to the fact that of the RCN walkout.

The authorities has made it wide it is not consenting to determination connected this year's wage award.

One enactment being explored by Health Secretary Steve Barclay is backdating the 2023-24 emergence to January. It would usually footwear successful in April.

The Treasury has not agreed to the idea.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "It is disappointing immoderate national members are going up with further strikes astatine a clip erstwhile the NHS is already nether immense unit from Covid, flu and tackling the backlog.

"The Health and Social Care Secretary is continuing to person constructive discussions with unions astir the 2023/24 wage reappraisal process and what is affordable and fair."