With ambulance strikes planned in the coming days, the East of England Ambulance Service Trust EEAST has said 999 calls will be available for urgent life-threatening ‘category 1’ calls and life or limb-threatening conditions, but you may have to get yourself to a hospital.
Ambulance bosses have also asked people to “stay safe” during the GMB and UNISON industrial action as other lower category call might not be responded to.
Next week, on Monday, 6 March, from 12:01am to 11:59pm, members of GMB Union will be taking industrial action in a national dispute over pay.
Then, on Wednesday, 8 March, members of the UNISON union will be taking strike action between 10:00am and 10:00pm.
UNISON members will attend urgent life-threatening ‘category 1’ calls from picket lines, as well as other incidents where there may be a risk to ‘life and limb’.
GMB members taking industrial action on Monday, 6 March have also agreed to attend category 1 calls and for calls for backup to attend patients with immediate life or limb-threatening conditions.
Tom Abell, Chief Executive at EEAST, said: “We understand the strength of feeling of our people who are taking industrial action around the national issue of pay and we have been working hard to make the service as safe as possible during the days of industrial action.”
EEAST stay they’ve been working with unions to do all they can to keep patients safe, but there will be fewer ambulances on the roads and fewer staff in their control rooms.
People are being urged to seek alternative health care support by calling 111, their GP or going to a pharmacy
However, people with a serious medical emergency are advised to “not hesitate to call 999″, but patients may have to arrange alternative transport to a hospital.
The unions say the strikes could have been avoided.
“Ambulance staff are taking action with a heavy heart, but years of falling pay and underfunding from national government have left us with no choice,” said UNISON Eastern regional organiser Peter Passingham said:
“We’re glad that we could work with EEAST to ensure that staff can continue to provide life-saving help to the public during industrial action.
“If the government took the same constructive approach to dialogue with trade unions as EEAST, it’s unlikely we would be forced to take industrial action.”
This is the first time that strike action has taken place at EEAST in this round of industrial action, with both unions meeting the threshold on re-balloting members.
