Region braced for strike of ambulance staff

Unite has been embroiled in a dispute with Yorkshire Ambulance Service. In a ballot of its 450 members, 62 per cent of voters backed strike action. A 24-hour walk-out will take place on April 2 and a ban on overtime will begin next week.

Unite regional officer Terry Cunliffe said: “The management has been trying to silence Unite after it raised legitimate concerns over patient safety that could flow from the shake-up of ambulance services in the next five years.”

Stephen Moir, deputy chief executive at the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which has a workforce of 4,300, said patients were its top priority. Plans were in place to avoid disruption to care if industrial action went ahead.