South Central Ambulance Service workers are among the 10,000 ambulance staff who have voted to strike across nine trusts in England and Wales.

The GMB said its members working as paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff are set to walk out in the following trusts: South West Ambulance Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, North West Ambulance Service, South Central Ambulance Service, North East Ambulance Service, East Midlands Ambulance Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service, Welsh Ambulance Service and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Read more: Traffic delays after police incident near Oxford

The GMB said workers across the ambulance services and some NHS trusts have voted to strike over the Government's 4 per cent pay award, which it described as another "massive real-terms pay cut".

The union will meet with reps in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: "Ambulance workers - like other NHS workers - are on their knees.

"Demoralised and downtrodden, they've faced 12 years of Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, fought on the front line of a global pandemic and now face the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

"No-one in the NHS takes strike action lightly - today shows just how desperate they are.

"This is as much about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety as it is about pay. A third of GMB ambulance workers think delays they've been involved with have led to the death of a patient.

"Something has to change or the service as we know it will collapse.

"GMB calls on the Government to avoid a winter of NHS strikes by negotiating a pay award that these workers deserve."

The news follows an announcement by Unison on Tuesday that thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West are to be called out on strike over pay and staffing levels after voting in favour of industrial action.

The union's general secretary, Christina McAnea, said: "The decision to take action and lose a day's pay is always a tough call. It's especially challenging for those whose jobs involve caring and saving lives.

"But thousands of ambulance staff and their NHS colleagues know delays won't lessen, nor waiting times reduce, until the Government acts on wages. That's why they've taken the difficult decision to strike.

"Patients will always come first and emergency cover will be available during any strike but, unless NHS pay and staffing get fixed, services and care will continue to decline."

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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