Ambulance strikes today – live: Services to be hit as staff follow nurses’ walkout over pay

Ambulance workers are picketing outside Coventry ambulance headquarters this morning as part of strike action over pay and conditions by the GMB, Unite and Unison unions.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has accused unions of making a “conscious decision” to “harm” patients as thousands of ambulance workers walk out in two one-day strikes.

In The Daily TelegraphMr Barclay wrote: “We now know that NHS contingency plans will not cover all 999 calls.

“Ambulance unions have made a conscious choice to harm patients.”

Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the desperate calls would go unanswered by ministers who she said were “misleading” and “deliberately intimidating at worst”.

“The strikes could not have come at a worse time because of the pressures the NHS is under,” says the NHS chief.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, told BBC Breakfast that he “wants to encourage our colleagues in the unionized ambulance service to work as co-operatively as possible through today’s industrial action to try to minimize patient harm”.

And he added: “We are in a very serious situation with these strikes, he added.

“In most parts of the country the ambulance service is very far from meeting the targets of responding to these two categories of cases, so it is not absolutely urgent, life-threatening, but still very important urgent and critical cases.

“So this strike could not have come at a worse time because of the pressures the NHS is under.”

Rishi Sunak’s government is to blame for another death in Wednesday’s ambulance strike, a health union leader said.

Christina McAnea, Unison’s general secretary, said the additional deaths will be the fault of ministers because they are “absolutely” refusing to negotiate a pay rise.

“They have been completely irresponsible,” he told TalkTV. “It is completely irresponsible to refuse to open any discussion or negotiation with us.”

Health Secretary Stephen Barclay says the public should “use common sense” as ambulance services go on strike across the country.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Barclay said: “The public should use common sense in what they do.”

He added that people should be “mindful” of the pressures on the health service as life-threatening calls are being prioritized but no national exemption applies.

Britons have been warned not to take risks – including drinking, driving or playing certain sports – as ambulance services descended into chaos just hours before the planned strike.

Rebecca Thomas, Adam Forrest, Kate Devlin report:

The British government has said it will not offer more money to nurses and ambulance crews to end strikes that are putting pressure on an already overstretched health system.

The government has insisted that it cannot be directly involved in wage negotiations between unions and employers.

Read this Associated Press report:

Ambulance services are likely to take a hit today as thousands of staff nurses across England and Wales join a strike over pay.

Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB Union, said the government could resolve the dispute at any time.

“We have tried everything to raise the salary, the problem that causes this conflict, but the government will not listen and will not speak,” he said in a statement. He added that ambulance workers deserve better.

“The government has to pay to talk now.”

The unions have asked for an increase above inflation, which in November was 10.7% in terms of consumer prices.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has accused unions of making a “conscious decision” to “harm” patients as thousands of ambulance workers walk out in two one-day strikes.

NHS bosses warned they could not guarantee patient safety, with unions angrily accusing the government of putting lives at risk after it refused to discuss the pay issue in talks on Tuesday.

But writing Daily TelegraphMr Barclay said: “We now know that NHS contingency plans will not cover all 999 calls. Ambulance unions have made a conscious choice to harm patients.”

Union leaders have insisted there will be cover for the most serious calls through a series of local agreements, with Unite general secretary Sharon Graham describing ministers’ claims that many serious calls will go unanswered as “misleading” and “deliberate scaremongering at worst”. “.

NHS bosses in the West Midlands have admitted patients are being put at risk as “extreme pressure” forces A&Es to turn patients away, even if they are admitted elsewhere. independent he revealed yesterday.

Worcestershire and Redditch health system emergency departments declared a serious incident and warned of delays in discharging patients from ambulances to A&E.

Regional hospitals may be forced to put ITU patients in corridors if pressures on A&Es and ambulances are not eased, according to an email seen. independent.

Our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas Here is the full report: