The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has urged the public to use the service "wisely" ahead of a planned strike later this week.
Paramedics, call handlers and other staff who work for NEAS are due to strike on Wednesday January 11, with further industrial action planned for January 23 and nurses expected to follow suit on Wednesday and Thursday January 18 and 19. And due to the strike, NEAS has pleaded with the public to only dial 999 for an ambulance for life-threatening conditions or injury.
Two unions, GMB and UNSION, have voted to take part in Wednesday's industrial action in an ongoing national dispute with the Government over the 2022/23 pay award. Talks between unions and Health Secretary Steve Barclay lasted for just an hour earlier today (Wednesday), with Unite negotiator Onay Kasab blasting the Government's approach as an "insult."
Read more: Ambulance strikes will go ahead on Wednesday after talks fall through with no deal
Unions say that the flat increase of £1,400 under the NHS Agenda for Change pay structure, a rise of around 4%, is a real terms pay cut, with inflation more than double the offered figure. In December, NEAS declared two major incidents in nine days due to "unprecedented pressure" either side of Christmas.
One of those was the two days before the December 21 strike, where workers told ChronicleLive from the picket lines that they had been raising issues of pay, safe staffing and the need for Government action to safeguard the NHS for many years.
Stephen Seagsby, chief operating officer at NEAS, said: "The first strike was an incredibly challenging day for our service. We had a significant number of our teams unavailable due to the industrial action.
"This time the unions are calling out more of our staff so we expect there to be greater disruption to our services. The public really supported us with fewer 999 calls last time, which helped us to prioritise our resources to those most in need.
"But with fewer people available to respond, we understandably want to warn and inform people once again on how best to use our service and what to expect from us during the period of action."
NEAS will have contingencies in place for the national strikes by healthcare unions and has agreed some exemptions to allow the service to respond to life-threatening cases during the strike. However, the service will not be able to respond to all calls of a serious nature and there will be significant delays for patients who have a less serious illness or injury.
Stephen added: "We will focus our resources on those who are most in need, but there will be fewer ambulances responding during the strike and this will only be where there is an immediate risk to life. This means that less serious calls will not receive a response for the duration of the strike action and some patients will be asked to make their own way to hospital, where it is safe for them to do so.
"We ask that the public continue to consider which is the best service for their needs and only call 999 in a life or limb threatening emergency. Patients waiting for an ambulance should only call back if your symptoms worsen so that our health advisors are available to take new emergency calls; or to call back to cancel an ambulance if alternative transport has been arranged.
"In anticipation of this disruption, we once again thank everyone involved and supporting us to help keep patients safe."
During the period of industrial action, GP surgeries, pharmacies and urgent treatment centres will still be open and NHS 111 will be available. For further guidance on the industrial action, visit the NHS England website.
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