>Ambulance workers across England have voted to strike over pay and staffing levels, and action is expected before Christmas. Thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and others working for ambulance services are expected to take part. Joshua, a paramedic in northern England, shares why he’s striking.
>“I’ve been a paramedic since 2016 and it’s absolute hell doing this job currently. I genuinely believe most of the public have no idea how bad the situation is. We’re being pushed beyond limits, constantly [having] dispatchers pleading for crews to come through. A massive part of the issue is that ambulances are just sat at hospitals for hours on end.
>“We’re going to patients who have waited for 12-13 hours. Ambulance crews are seeing [patients die] day in and day out. I think to myself, god, please don’t let any of my family members need an ambulance. It’s terrifying.
>“The cost of living is astronomical, as everyone well knows. [We’ve had] real-terms pay cuts year after year. I’ve gone from living a relatively comfortable life to just counting every penny that I have. I feel sick [when I] have to spend fuel on the car.
>“I’ve seen co-workers crying, single parents who can’t afford to do this job any more. So many people are leaving because we’re treated [badly] and not paid anywhere near enough.
>“Patient safety has fallen through the floor, paramedics can’t reach them in time, there’s simply not enough staff to get to those patients. If the government wanted to do something about that, they would pay paramedics properly and then people would see it as a good job that’s rewarding and consider doing a career in [it]. Patient safety is directly linked to pay. People are quitting at a time where staffing is below critical.
>“The issue is absolutely systemic across the entire NHS. Staff going off sick with burnout, stress and suicidal thoughts is endemic across the ambulance service. I feel completely burnt out currently – I’ve been considering calling in sick every night shift this week. I don’t want to come to work because you don’t know what you’re going to come across. It’s stress beyond stress. We’re finishing hours late every shift. And the government is saying you don’t deserve to be paid properly.
>“The GMB has a policy of no harm to patients. And there’s already catastrophic harm being done to patients by the government. [The ballot gives a mandate for full strike action but the form it takes will be decided by a committee of GMB ambulance members, according to the union.]
>“No one [in the NHS] wants to walk away from patients. We’re in a caring profession for a reason. But we’re not listened to by [people] with no idea of the reality of what it’s like out on the road.
>“Most paramedics don’t want to strike. We want a government that respects us, values our work and cares about the public we look after.”
My Nan waited 20 hours for an ambulance recently after a fall resulting in a head injury. My colleague has just this moment been told to get someone to bring him to hospital as there are no ambulances available- he is suffering severe chest pains.
Solidarity with the Paramedics
Its got to be rippling through the economy now. A healthy populace and all that.
A part of me just hopes they quit for better things…
Let this silly country collapse and maximise their income while minimising their stress
My ex is a paramedic, the amount of work he did was unreal and the things he has seen, I have so much respect for him.
I hope he can justify his strike to the family’s of the people who die before the ambulance gets there
“How come our gran died waiting for your ambulance?”
“We’ll I couldn’t be bothered to do the job, but I also couldn’t be bothered to quit- I just sat a home”
Medicine is a hard job, if you go into that field anyway don’t go awol because it’s tough. Elderly people will die unnecessarily because of this.
Student Paramedic here, from placement experience and working in a hospital ED as a healthcare assistant I don’t plan on working in the UK, understaffed, underpaid, underequiped and under appreciated.
And I’m not the only one thinking that way, I know plenty of doctors, nurses, paramedics, physios, dietitians, OT’s everyone is looking at Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Everyone, even senior staff, everyone.
Ex emergency medical technician here from the London ambulance service, I left to become a train driver. I would never go back.
Solidarity to all NHS workers who are striking, it’s a shame it’s taken this long as they’ve been walked over and taken advantage of. Disgraceful way to treat dedicated and hard working professionals.
I regularly see queues of five or more ambulances at work and we have not even hit peak winter crisis season yet. We somehow managed to have 55 beds free at one point last Friday, we were down to less than a handful by Monday evening. It is pure chaos and it will get worse if this current cold snap lasts all month, especially as COVID caused a mass exodus of staff. This could be the winter that breaks the NHS if we are unlucky and Tory voters will have no one to blame but themselves for believing the Tory party were the right people to successfully manage the NHS.
During covid we had millions to spend on dozens of unused field hospitals up and down the country. Now we can’t get a ambulance
Couldn’t make it up
They’ve saved my life *twice*. I cannot fathom why this shitty government refuses to look after them and other NHS staff. Why are we short-changing *nurses* for example? When you go to hospital, it’s the nurses who look after you. We can’t be so stupid as to *stiff them* on pay and conditions… no wait, the govt *are that stupid*.
Just who is going to look after us when they have destroyed the NHS?
And don’t give me this “We can’t afford it bullshit”. The UK is the 6th richest country in the world. We can afford anything we want, it’s just that greedy people are getting an unfair share and hoarding it. If everyone got a fair share to start with, and everyone paid their fair share in taxes, we’d easily afford top class healthcare for everyone.
This is all about individualism: dog eat dog, zero sum competition, everyone for themselves and fuck the rest. Napoleon had a point when he called this place Perfidious Albion.
11 comments
>Ambulance workers across England have voted to strike over pay and staffing levels, and action is expected before Christmas. Thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and others working for ambulance services are expected to take part. Joshua, a paramedic in northern England, shares why he’s striking.
>“I’ve been a paramedic since 2016 and it’s absolute hell doing this job currently. I genuinely believe most of the public have no idea how bad the situation is. We’re being pushed beyond limits, constantly [having] dispatchers pleading for crews to come through. A massive part of the issue is that ambulances are just sat at hospitals for hours on end.
>“We’re going to patients who have waited for 12-13 hours. Ambulance crews are seeing [patients die] day in and day out. I think to myself, god, please don’t let any of my family members need an ambulance. It’s terrifying.
>“The cost of living is astronomical, as everyone well knows. [We’ve had] real-terms pay cuts year after year. I’ve gone from living a relatively comfortable life to just counting every penny that I have. I feel sick [when I] have to spend fuel on the car.
>“I’ve seen co-workers crying, single parents who can’t afford to do this job any more. So many people are leaving because we’re treated [badly] and not paid anywhere near enough.
>“Patient safety has fallen through the floor, paramedics can’t reach them in time, there’s simply not enough staff to get to those patients. If the government wanted to do something about that, they would pay paramedics properly and then people would see it as a good job that’s rewarding and consider doing a career in [it]. Patient safety is directly linked to pay. People are quitting at a time where staffing is below critical.
>“The issue is absolutely systemic across the entire NHS. Staff going off sick with burnout, stress and suicidal thoughts is endemic across the ambulance service. I feel completely burnt out currently – I’ve been considering calling in sick every night shift this week. I don’t want to come to work because you don’t know what you’re going to come across. It’s stress beyond stress. We’re finishing hours late every shift. And the government is saying you don’t deserve to be paid properly.
>“The GMB has a policy of no harm to patients. And there’s already catastrophic harm being done to patients by the government. [The ballot gives a mandate for full strike action but the form it takes will be decided by a committee of GMB ambulance members, according to the union.]
>“No one [in the NHS] wants to walk away from patients. We’re in a caring profession for a reason. But we’re not listened to by [people] with no idea of the reality of what it’s like out on the road.
>“Most paramedics don’t want to strike. We want a government that respects us, values our work and cares about the public we look after.”
My Nan waited 20 hours for an ambulance recently after a fall resulting in a head injury. My colleague has just this moment been told to get someone to bring him to hospital as there are no ambulances available- he is suffering severe chest pains.
Solidarity with the Paramedics
Its got to be rippling through the economy now. A healthy populace and all that.
A part of me just hopes they quit for better things…
Let this silly country collapse and maximise their income while minimising their stress
My ex is a paramedic, the amount of work he did was unreal and the things he has seen, I have so much respect for him.
I hope he can justify his strike to the family’s of the people who die before the ambulance gets there
“How come our gran died waiting for your ambulance?”
“We’ll I couldn’t be bothered to do the job, but I also couldn’t be bothered to quit- I just sat a home”
Medicine is a hard job, if you go into that field anyway don’t go awol because it’s tough. Elderly people will die unnecessarily because of this.
Student Paramedic here, from placement experience and working in a hospital ED as a healthcare assistant I don’t plan on working in the UK, understaffed, underpaid, underequiped and under appreciated.
And I’m not the only one thinking that way, I know plenty of doctors, nurses, paramedics, physios, dietitians, OT’s everyone is looking at Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Everyone, even senior staff, everyone.
Ex emergency medical technician here from the London ambulance service, I left to become a train driver. I would never go back.
Solidarity to all NHS workers who are striking, it’s a shame it’s taken this long as they’ve been walked over and taken advantage of. Disgraceful way to treat dedicated and hard working professionals.
I regularly see queues of five or more ambulances at work and we have not even hit peak winter crisis season yet. We somehow managed to have 55 beds free at one point last Friday, we were down to less than a handful by Monday evening. It is pure chaos and it will get worse if this current cold snap lasts all month, especially as COVID caused a mass exodus of staff. This could be the winter that breaks the NHS if we are unlucky and Tory voters will have no one to blame but themselves for believing the Tory party were the right people to successfully manage the NHS.
During covid we had millions to spend on dozens of unused field hospitals up and down the country. Now we can’t get a ambulance
Couldn’t make it up
They’ve saved my life *twice*. I cannot fathom why this shitty government refuses to look after them and other NHS staff. Why are we short-changing *nurses* for example? When you go to hospital, it’s the nurses who look after you. We can’t be so stupid as to *stiff them* on pay and conditions… no wait, the govt *are that stupid*.
Just who is going to look after us when they have destroyed the NHS?
And don’t give me this “We can’t afford it bullshit”. The UK is the 6th richest country in the world. We can afford anything we want, it’s just that greedy people are getting an unfair share and hoarding it. If everyone got a fair share to start with, and everyone paid their fair share in taxes, we’d easily afford top class healthcare for everyone.
This is all about individualism: dog eat dog, zero sum competition, everyone for themselves and fuck the rest. Napoleon had a point when he called this place Perfidious Albion.