UK Unions Urged to Guarantee Response to Life-Threatening Emergencies During Ambulance Strikes

Ambulances at St Thomas' Hospital in London, on Jan. 7, 2022. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The UK government has urged unions to honour their commitments to responding to life-threatening emergency calls during the planned ambulance strikes.

The strikes, coordinated by the GMB, Unison, and Unite unions, is expected to affect nine ambulance trusts in England on Dec. 21 and eight on Dec. 28.

Downing Street criticised the “concerning lack of clarity” from the unions about care levels ahead of strike action on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said on Monday: “We would urge the unions to come forward with these reassurances as patients will understandably be worried.

“As things stand, we expect unions to honour their commitment to providing responses to life-threatening emergency calls, but as I say, there will be disruption to others.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks at the Joint Expeditionary Force Summit in Riga, Latvia, on Dec. 19, 2022. Henry Nicholls/PA Media

The prime minister, who is on a visit to Latvia, also urged the unions ensure staff do all they can to alleviate the impact on patients.

He said: “I would urge them to keep considering whether these strikes are really necessary and do everything they can to alleviate the impact it’s going to have on people.

“The government, for its part, is being responsible in putting in place contingency measures to make sure we are well prepared to handle the disruption that is coming.”

‘Every Measure Possible’

Earlier, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said people should still call an ambulance if there was a need to do so during the strike.

He told broadcasters during a visit to King’s College Hospital in London: “People should continue to call 999 where they need an ambulance. But there will be impacts on patients as a result of the strike action.

“And that’s why I’m calling on the trade unions to make good on their statements that they will protect those with life-threatening conditions and emergency responses, ensure we have the cover on Wednesday to respond to those calls.

“That’s what they’ve said publicly. But if, for example, they only allow staff to respond from the picket line, that will add further delay to the response times, which is not in the patient’s interest.”

The Unite union has previously said it will do everything possible to ensure no lives are lost during the strike.

Unite’s national lead officer Onay Kasab was asked if he could guarantee that no patients would die as a result of the ambulance strikes.

He told Times Radio on Sunday: “We will take every measure possible. We’ve been in negotiation with employers to make sure that there is emergency cover and we’ve given a commitment that our members will scramble off picket lines and get into ambulances if there are emergencies that need to be covered.

But he added, “Ultimately, responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate ambulance cover all year round rests with the trusts, rests with the government.”

Troops Deployed

The government has made arrangements for hundreds of members of the armed forces to plug staffing gaps in the health service during the strikes, the Cabinet Office announced on Dec. 17.

Some 600 military personnel will be working as ambulance drivers and a further 150 will be providing logistical support, it said.

But Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said it is “not fair” that the armed forces are having to cover for striking workers over the festive period.

In an interview with Times Radio on Sunday, he urged unions to call off the industrial action and “give the military a break this Christmas.”

Downing Street said on Monday that it is still not too late for unions to call off the planned strikes.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We are open to further talks if they are willing to have them. We believe we have taken a fair and reasonable approach throughout, including by accepting the pay body’s recommendation in full.”

‘Elephant in the Room’

But the Unison union’s General Secretary Christina McAnea said ambulance staff are striking because ministers refused to negotiate with them on pay.

“None of our members want to be on strike. This isn’t something they have chosen to do lightly. The government has been completely intransigent here,” she told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme.

“We have been calling on them for weeks and weeks to sit down and have a proper discussion about how we try and resolve this dispute, and they adamantly refuse to do that. They will not talk to us about the elephant in the room that is pay.”

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth also called on ministers to open negotiations with the unions to avert the strikes.

He said: “The buck stops with Rishi Sunak and his government. They’re the ones who can stop these strikes by engaging in a meaningful negotiation about what is a fair settlement for NHS staff.”

Talking to the media in Riga, Sunak defended the government’s approach to the labour dispute.

He said, “When it comes to pay, it’s because these things are difficult that we have an independent process.”

He stressed the need to “combat inflation” which is “making everybody in the UK’s life difficult.”

“Part of us doing that is having a responsible and fair approach to pay,” he added.

PA Media contributed to this report.