Ambulance workers to strike, further disrupting health service in Britain

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) – More than 10,000 ambulance workers across England and Wales have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions, the GMB union said on Wednesday.

Britain’s state-run National Health Service (NHS) is braced for a wave of unprecedented industrial action this winter, with up to 100,000 nurses due to take strike action on Dec. 15 and 20 for the first time in their union’s 100-year history.

“No one in the NHS takes strike action lightly, today shows just how desperate they are,” GMB National Secretary Rachel Harrison said.

“This is as much about unsafe staffing levels and patient safety as it is about pay … Something has to change or the service as we know it will collapse.”

The union said it would meet in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas.

The NHS, which has provided healthcare free at the point of use since 1948, is dealing with record levels of patients on waiting lists for hospital treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a staffing crisis which has left thousands of vacancies.

Accident and emergency departments are also under strain, with ambulances often facing lengthy waits to transfer patients to hospitals.

Thousands of health workers, including call handlers and paramedics, represented by the Unison trade union are also set to take industrial action after voting in favour of strikes.

In response to Unison’s announcement, Britain’s health and social care minister Steve Barclay said he regretted that some NHS staff would be taking industrial action as the country approached “a challenging winter”.

“Our priority is keeping patients safe during any strikes and the NHS has tried and tested plans to minimise disruption and ensure emergency services continue to operate,” Barclay said in a statement.

Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James and Janet Lawrence

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