Ambulance workers in the East: finishing late, missing breaks and facing even more pressure
A union are calling for more support from the Government.
Ambulance workers in Norfolk and Suffolk are calling for more support at work.
Unison have said many have said many have missed breaks, late finishes and higher levels of staff off stick.
The union have highlighted that people have ended up in tears at the end of their shifts due to stress and low morale.
The organisation has written to the chair of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) to urge employers to act now in a bid to limit the impact of such pressures on the wellbeing of staff, especially people working in control rooms.
Mark Wibberley MBE is an ambulance medical technician for the East of England Ambulance Service and says they’re busier than the start of the pandemic: “The public were staying in and were worried about going to hospital. And then it’s slowly and steadily rose…it’s rising all the time.”
“I was on shift Sunday, 12pm to 12am. I was 2 hours off late, so that’s a 14 hour shift. I was two hours on scene waiting for GP to call back because they were overloaded with calls “
The union also say some staff are spending “hours” queueing in emergency department corridors waiting to hand over patients on stretchers to hospital staff.
Mark tells us: 'Until you experience it first hand, you’ll never understand how big the problem is':
“Until Boris Johnson is waiting two hours outside the Norfolk & Norwich in an ambulance, it will never get that far. He will never understand the problem.”
Unison are asking for “systematic approach” to be put in place for monitoring, measuring and reporting on staff welfare, better use of clinical triage to avoid ambulance staff being called upon unnecessarily, ensuring staff are not working excessive hours, and extra welfare support.
Unison deputy head of health, Helga Pile, said: "Ambulance workers have faced exceptional pressures over the past 17 months. It’s not surprising many have reached burn out. They cannot be left to just carry on doing excessive hours without proper breaks and rest between shifts.
"Employers must act swiftly by doing all they can to limit the unprecedented pressures on staff. Additional welfare support is needed, and the government should make this a top priority .”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “This year we have seen record numbers of doctors and nurses in the NHS, including an increase of 883 ambulance staff."