Ambulance crews are “doing well”, despite pressures

According to a paramedic working in Hull for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, staff are stretched to the limit, often working 12 hour shifts and sometimes up to 13 or 14 hours, without a meal break.

He claimed over Christmas 26 shifts hadn’t been covered because of sickness and crews were being delayed for up to an hour at the hospital because of a lack of beds.

Unison regional organiser Ray Gray said there were close to 100 vacancies going unfilled in Yorkshire: “Some of it is cost efficiencies and when they get a vacancy it takes nearly a year to get a qualified paramedic up and trained.

“For health and safety reasons unions have never agreed with a 12-hour shift, if they get a call at the end of the shift to the far end of the patch that could be another half an hour.

“You will never convince me that getting someone to drive a vehicle like that will ever be safe.”

However Vince Larvin, Locality Director for A&E Operations, said staff were given the opportunity to opt out of working during meal breaks and were paid for the extra time. He added: “The vast majority of staff opt in; occasionally they don’t get a meal break because it is the nature of the business.”

He said they were working with unions to find a way of working differently at peak times to avoid the situation arising. He disputed the number of vacancies, saying in Hull there were 10 in total and insisted that despite the pressures, crews were performing well over target. “On Christmas Day there was 22 per cent more demand; this was from members of the public who rang 999 for illnesses that weren’t life-threatening. We are constantly working with the Commissioners and health and social care partners to minimise the impact.”

Ambulances in Hull and East Riding are responding to 81 per cent of emergency calls in eight minutes - well over the target 75 per cent response time.