National dispute reduces ambulance resources

National dispute reduces Ambulance resources

The impact of the continuing national pay dispute is contributing to some delays for patients and performance, according to North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Following on from the full strike between the hours of 7:00am and 11:00am on Monday 13 October, staff are continuing with dispute related action, in the form of an overtime ban, which is resulting in some ambulance beings unable to go out on the road due to not having enough crews.

Director of Operations, Derek Cartwright, comments: “The ban is certainly having an impact on the Trust in terms of filling overtime and getting vehicles available to respond but more importantly, it is the patients who see the real impact when we don’t have enough ambulances on the road. This leads to delays in reaching those who need urgent emergency care. So we can reach as many patients as possible, we are having to rely on volunteer services to assist the Trust and while we are very grateful for their help, this is not an ideal situation.”

The impact is more noticeable in Greater Manchester, which in the last 48 hours, over five shifts, has had a total of 35 vehicles out of action since the overtime ban came into force at 11:00am on Monday. In Cumbria and Lancashire, the figure is 21 and Cheshire and Merseyside has seen 23 vehicles off the road.

The Trust is required to reach 75% of Red 1 and Red 2 incidents within eight minutes but in the last 48 hours has only managed to achieve a performance of 70.7% for Red 1 and 71.9% for Red 2 incidents.

Mr Cartwright adds: “We recognise and respect the right of our staff to take action, but at this moment, our major concern is having enough resources to be able to provide a service for our patients. We do rely on the goodwill of our staff to volunteer for overtime shifts to cover sickness, annual leave and vacancies and when that offer is withdrawn, it does have an effect on patients.”

The 111 service is operating normally and the Trust’s Patient Transport Service has not seen any impact from extended action.

The Trust continues to ask the public to only call 999 in cases of life-threatening or serious emergencies and to consider seeking advice from GPs, the 111 service or for minor conditions, their local pharmacy.