Campaigner whose baby faced two hospital scares says ambulance staff are right to strike

The Ludlow councillor began his campaign for better ambulance response times after his baby daughter Myla suffered a seizure scare and faced a long wait for paramedics.

Last month the nightmare was repeated when Myla fell ill again and the family took her to hospital themselves after being told there would be a wait.

He says paramedics are right to vote for the drastic strike action.

"These people are incredible," he said.

"I am full of support for the ambulance staff. We have been through Covid and now we have come out of the other side, our health services are underfunded and understaffed.

"Waiting times are appalling, but when you finally get an ambulance the service you get is incredible.

"They work long shifts and unsociable hours and the pay that they get does not reflect that.

"They save lives day in and day out but year after year they have seen their wages frozen.

"I am fully behind the strikes and also fully behind nurses in areas where they have decided to strike."

Unite announced that its members voted by up to 92 per cent to take action, warning that strikes look set to begin ahead of Christmas.

Details are expected to be announced in the coming days.

The announcement follows similar votes for industrial action by ambulance and other NHS workers in Unison and the GMB.

Unite said its ambulance service members report that they used to see 10 patients a day discharged safely into hospital, but they can now deal with only three or four, spending hours at a time sitting outside A&E with patients waiting to be seen.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This strike vote reflects the fact that ambulance staff, dedicated professionals to their core, have been left with no choice but to take a stand for the very future of the NHS itself and they have Unite’s 100 per cent support."