Ambulance staff to stage more strikes

Members of Unite at the Yorkshire Ambulance Service will walk out for six hours from 3pm on Friday and for the same time next Tuesday.

The union accused the local NHS Trust of refusing to hold talks at the conciliation service Acas to try to resolve the 20-month-old row, which centres on new shift patterns.

Unite said new working conditions were imposed on staff, giving more responsibility to emergency care assistants and changing meal breaks.

Almost 400 union members have held a series of strikes since April 2013.

Unite regional officer Terry Cunliffe said: “Our members firmly believe that the public deserve a first-class, fully resourced ambulance service and, as they have shown on a number of occasions since April 2013, they have been prepared to strike to strongly make that case.

“We have been buoyed by the support we have received from Yorkshire people.”