NHS strike: ‘Only a matter of time before everything collapses if we don’t change anything’ says Yorkshire Ambulance service worker

From lives being destroyed by the stacking of calls with YAS staff having to add calls to growing priority lists when dealing with emergencies, to half of NHS trusts having to have food banks to feed staff.

“The cost of living crisis and everything going up has caused more staff to struggle so we’ve had food parcels delivered to the station,” said 46-year-old Mark Robinson who works as an emergency dispatcher for YAS and is a GMB Union Rep for the control room.

He also added that sometimes 20-30 calls are stacked when even allowing a couple of calls to stack could already be dangerous.

Mark said: “We will keep going on strike until the government do something. “We will be striking again on the 20th unless they pull their finger out.”

The strikes today lasted from 6am until noon and then 6pm until midnight so staff weren’t as impacted.

Emergency dispatcher James Crowe, 25, who was on strike today at the picket line of Yorkshire Ambulance Services HQ said: “it’s only a matter of time before everything collapses if we don’t change anything.”

The industrial action coincides with strike action by nurses and the picket line at Harrogate Ambulance Station will see ambulances workers line up next to their nursing colleagues.

Workers across the ambulance service voted to strike over the Government’s imposed four per cent pay award. The GMB Union said staff are furious over the Government’s apparent attempts to ‘smear’ them over life and limb cover on strike days.