Shropshire ambulance strike delays warning
Ambulances will only be sent out to treat patients whose lives are in danger when paramedics take to the picket lines next week in a dispute over pay, bosses warned today.
Staff at West Midlands Ambulance Service, which covers Shropshire, will join other NHS workers including midwives, nurses and radiographers on strike from 7am to 11am on Monday.
Members of nine unions will walk out over the Government's decision not to accept a recommended one per cent pay rise.
The planned walkout on Monday follows a four-hour strike on October 13, the first in the NHS over pay for 30 years.
The latest strike will be followed by action short of a strike, which includes measures such as not working unpaid overtime.
Assistant chief ambulance officer Mark Gough warned people to only dial 999 in life-threatening situations – or face a long wait for an ambulance the service could not guarantee would turn up.
He said patients who suffered falls or broken bones could have to wait up to four hours – but vowed an agreement had been put in place again so striking workers would come off the picket lines in cases of genuine emergency when there was no cover.
"We expect a significant amount of staff to strike and that it will cause a significant amount of disruption to the ambulance service," Mr Gough said.
"Last time 50 per cent of front line staff went on strike, in some areas it was as high as 75 per cent.
"We are expecting it to be worse than last time, the delays will be longer, and in some cases people might not get an ambulance at all. There are contingency plans. We have got clinical managers answering 999 calls.
"But there is going to be significant disruption, there is no doubt about that.
"The public have an important part to play, and we would urge people not to dial 999 unless there is a real genuine life threatening emergency."
