Almost 1,000 West Midlands ambulance workers take strike action

Nearly 1,000 ambulance workers will be striking today across the West Midlands, over the Government’s 4% pay offer.

Paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants, call handlers and other staff in the region will walk out from 12:00 midnight to 23:59.

Major pickets will be staged in Stoke, Donnington, Dudley and Hereford.

Stuart Richards, GMB Senior Organiser, said:  “West Midlands ambulance workers’ message is clear – the Government must talk pay now. While the NHS crumbles around our ears – despite ambulance workers desperate efforts – we have been waiting two weeks today for another meeting with Ministers.

“Instead of working to solve the problems, this Government has demonised the ambulance workers who provided life and limb cover on strike days. The only way to solve this dispute is a proper pay offer. We are waiting.”

Emergency services operations delivery director, Nathan Hudson, said: “We have had productive discussions with our staffside colleagues to agree that ambulances will respond to:

  • The most urgent calls such as cardiac arrests and where a crew request immediate back up at the scene of a case
  • Other life-threatening cases such as heart attacks, strokes, difficulty in breathing and maternity cases

“In addition, staff in our non-emergency patient transport service will continue to convey vulnerable groups such as patients undertaking renal dialysis, cancer treatments, palliative care, emergency scans within the strike period timeframe”.

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