Paramedics said colleagues are using foodbanks as unions ballot members for strike action in a pay dispute.
Ambulance workers could go on strike in what the GMB union's acting national secretary, Rachel Harrison, called "the biggest ambulance strike for 30 years", after a pay award of roughly 4% was "imposed" on NHS staff. With prices rising by 10% in the last year this would be a significant real terms pay cut for paramedics, call handlers and emergency medical dispatchers who earn between £20,000 and £31,000.
With interest rates soaring in recent weeks, staff with mortgages are feeling an extra squeeze. Paul Turner, the GMB's deputy secretary of the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) branch, said his own mortgage payments are currently predicted to go up £600 if interest rates remain high when his fixed-rate period ends. He told the ECHO: "We've got people in the ambulance service, and paramedics, who are relying on foodbanks.
