Employees of Britain’s ambulance management system, which includes paramedics, drivers and answering service workers, are on strike on Wednesday to demand better pay.
The scenario is such that one of the contact centers – in this case, the one in the Northeast – asks anyone who is about to call the 999 emergency number to question themselves before doing so. And the question to ask yourself is simple: “Am I going to die? Do I feel like I’m going to die?” explained to BBC operations coordinator Stephen Segasby.
The center that he directs, he warns, will give priority to patients who are at risk of life or limbs. That is, only ambulances will be dispatched for “category 1” calls and all the others will go through the evaluation of a clinical team.
In addition, almost 750 soldiers were called to help and will drive ambulances for less urgent transport, accompanied by a paramedic. In London, only half of the 400 ambulances that are usually on duty circulate.
The government, for its part, has issued warnings calling for greater caution and asking people to avoid risky behaviors when driving or drinking alcohol. The head of the UK public health system (NHS), Stephen Powis, urged people to drink in moderation.
“We work closely with unions to ensure emergency services for life-threatening illnesses, including strokes and heart attacks, are maintained,” he said.
Home births, for example, have been canceled and pregnant women are asked to call hospitals when in doubt.
The health minister, Steve Barclay, accused, in statements to The Daily Telegraph, the unions of having made a “conscious decision to harm patients.” The message did not go down well and was deemed “truly offensive to ambulance workers” and the NHS by GMB union general secretary Rachel Harrison.
For this union leader, “it is up to the Government to put an end to the conflict”, but the refusal to “discuss wages with the unions” supposes its continuation.
The strike of the ambulance service comes just one day after another of the nurses. On Tuesday night, the union of the Royal College of Nursing sent an ultimatum to the Government, setting a deadline of two days to reach a salary agreement, under the threat of new strikes after Christmas.
On strike for the first time in the union’s 100 years of existence, nurses have become a symbol of Britain’s rising cost of living, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is standing his ground.
“I recognize that it is difficult. It’s hard for everyone because inflation is where it is,” she said. “The best way … to help everyone in the country is to reduce inflation as soon as possible,” she declared.
Data from a YouGov institute poll published on Tuesday and cited by AFP show that two-thirds of Britons support strikes by nurses and 63% those of ambulance workers.
Source: TSF
