Paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers will walk out in England and Wales on Wednesday in action that will affect non-life threatening calls.
(Picture: PA)Thousands of NHS paramedics, technicians and call handlers follow nurses taking to picket lines in a long-running pay row.
It comes as a YouGov survey finds 63 per cent of Britons back paramedics walking out, which in the capital began at midday and ends at midnight on Wednesday.
Amid sustained pressure on 999 and 111 services, eight English and Welsh NHS and ambulance trusts have declared critical incidents, despite promises of a “life and limb cover” agreement between the unions and government.
Meanwhile in the capital, London Ambulance Service describes the situation as a “business continuity incident” with “high demand across our 999 and 111 services” as soldiers are drafted in for emergency cover.
But Londoners requiring an ambulance until midnight on Wednesday for certain conditions need should get to A&E under their own steam, says president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Adrian Boyle.
Ambulance officials advise people to dial 999 if there’s a suspected heart attack or stroke, but patients could be asked after clinical assessment to get a lift to hospital if it’s classed as “non-life threatening”.
Unions are calling for bosses to make right what’s being described as a “decade of lost earnings”, which they say is a 13 per cent loss in real terms.
The government says industrial action is risking lives, a claim the GMB union calls “insulting”.
Meanwhile, the army’s been deployed to help deal with driving ambulances, but they’re not allowed to treat patients.
For the latest analysis on this historic industrial action, where it all leaves Rishi Sunak and why Britons aren’t optimistic about the New Year, the Leader’s joined by Evening Standard political editor Nicholas Cecil.
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