Ambulance strike is disgraceful?

[somethingdifferenttoday]

I just read this on bbc news, "Unions say life-threatening callouts will continue to be responded to over the next 24 hours but some urgent calls, for example for late-stage labour or a fall in the home, might not be answered."

Is it just me who thinks this is disgraceful?

Late stage labour at home or an elderly person laying with a broken hip ARE emergencies! I'm not sure how people in a caring profession can strike knowing these calls will go unanswered.

The unions talk about the backlog, paramedics stuck outside hospitals in ambulances unable to unload and go back out on the road but then admit they are striking for more pay rather than as a protest about that. The average salary of ambulance staff of £47,000 and a 4% pay rise isn't enough they claim but if they are given a pay rise, they will stop striking.

I think they do deserve more money (we all do with inflation) but I can't get past them supposedly being in a caring profession but taking steps that WILL cause extra deaths regardless.

I work in the private sector and have had zero pay rise. If I went on strike nobody would die and I'd be fired. This approach is abusing the critical position of their roles. I hope they are not given a pay rise as it will just demonstrate that blackmail works to other public sector workers and we will have even more strikes.

YABU = I support them striking
YANBU = I agree, it's disgraceful behaviour from a caring profession

The unions have blood on their hands after this.

the government have blood on their hands, they've been warned, they knew labour was short after Brexit, after covid with staff leaving. They are systematically destroying the NHS and that isn't a coincidence. £350 million a week was supposed to be pumped in

£29 million in corruption this past month with Mone, yet again more money shown away to their friends pockets

Choosing for people to die is very very different from struggling to provide ambulance cover.

Do you not think that the government are choosing for people to die by mismanaging the NHS to the point where it is seriously understaffed?

Well I wouldn't be choosing a home birth in this shit storm would you? That is the least of our worries though, if you are pregnant and go into labour somewhere far from a hospital, you won't be getting an ambulance today.

“We have paid billions into the NHS, a bottomless pit"

Yes how dare those humans keep getting unwell

Of course it’s always going to cost money but you can see who prioritises it from notonthestairs chart.

Absolutely agree about this. We are keeping people alive unnecessarily often in lots of pain and then pumping them full of painkillers whilst they meek out their lives for a few more days or weeks. Often because those left behind cannot bear to left them go and because we have a culture and law where you must keep someone alive. Time to start having that difficult debate. I know for sure there are certain illnesses I would not want to be kept alive for.

It is much more acceptable to me than for this government - their policies kill people every day due to their idealogical starving public services of money and diversion of funds to their dodgy mates - the government are the ones with blood on their hands.

Had we not been going through a cost of living crisis, I’m doubtful we would be threatened with strikes.

we have a shortage of employees, this is about lack of staff due to piss poor conditions

Choosing for people to die is very very different from struggling to provide ambulance cover.

why are they struggling to provide ambulance cover?

YABU
the nhs is a disgrace and the govt are a disgrace not the ambulance staff. Please do your research - the average pay is not £47,000.
I am a nurse and I fully support them. People are already suffering. You and the govt need to open your eyes snd ears

I don't believe ANYONE is mismanaging the NHS. It is totally unsustainable.
Do the maths.
You are a teacher.
70 million ageing people with multiple health needs living until mid 80s on average and you work out how long it will take for the NHS to collapse?
The cost of living is high globally now, people need two wages to live so looking after our elderly like the good old days is simply not doable for most families. Social care was never designed to support tens of millions of old people.

We need to scrap the present NHS and social care and start again, ground up. It is the only way.

I fully support ALL the strikes happening now.It is 100% the fault of our corrupt Government.

Yes how dare those humans keep getting unwell

it would actually be cheaper to prevent those people getting sick in the first place, but there are so many reasons that the government wouldn't do that as they'd themselves loose money

No way can I think like that. I see a population made to be terrified of a virus for two years that was low risk

Ask China how low risk Omicron is, which in itself is nothing like as dangerous as Delta.

We in the West did the right thing, CV is not low risk at all and has long term effects, blamed for worker shortages too.

@Dreamstate - who do you suggest makes that decision? My DMiL would be top of your list. She doesn't know any of us; it's heartbreaking but none of us would want to or would be able to make that decision.

YABU
They need better pay. The government get away with not paying them because they know nurses and care providers don't want to strike. They usually stay after hours for no pay because they're with a patient and no staff to receive them. Agency staff are paid so much more. Can't make it much worse than it already is tbf. Ambulances can't get to people because the paramedics are stuck in hospital hours because they can't leave the patient. No different to them being on strike. Have you seen people are having to wait almost a full day with broken hips in their homes right now without the strike anyway. It needs doctors to start seeing patients so a&e isn't full of people with a cold, virus, or something easily treated with antibiotics are treated there instead of waiting hours in a&e. They deserve the extra pay and they won't get it without strike action.

@Venetiaparties

Whats your alternative to strikes and the shortage of staff if you don't want them on strike?

YOur quick to blame but how would you solve the current crisis if striking is ruled out?

70 million ageing people with multiple health needs living until mid 80s on average and you work out how long it will take for the NHS to collapse?

successive governments have known about the population increase and life expectancy numbers for the last 70 years, the majority of that time the tory party have been in power and that have they prepared for this? the same measures they prepared for covid, knowing it was going to happen

I think your ignorance of the situation is a disgrace, try educating yourself on the subject before making yourself look stupid

ivykaty44

Labour was short before Brexit as well.

Another YABU.

YABU.

This is laughable.

Everyone will say YABU until its their child or elderly parent who dies as a result of not being able to get an ambulance (and I know people this has happened to). Then, its not so easy to say

YAUB. I'd say that this would be the opposite. If you've experienced this, as we have, and are angry at the ambulance workers, your anger is very much misdirected.

My lovely FIL died earlier this year from a heart attack, while waiting over 6 hours for an ambulance. He was a very poorly man, and may have died anyway, but we will never know.

Despite this, or even because of it, our family all support the ambulance and NHS workers strikes. Because we've been a victim of how bad the NHS service has become. Are we angry? Yes, of course. But not at NHs workers, who do an almost impossible job in extremely difficult circumstances. How else are they supposed to show how difficult things are for them? They've been saying it for years, but the Government haven't listened. We're beyond angry at the Tories who have underfunded the NHS for years, and ignored the problems.

Strikes are resulting action, not a cause of the problem. OP you need to look at the cause, not the result in this case. The cause is years and years and years of Tory cutbacks, no decent financial rewards for those in public-sector jobs and terrible working conditions. NHS staff do, quite literally, go above and beyond and because these health professions are seen as a "calling" they're notoriously underpaid, in the same way that teaching is.

The staff going on strike are desperate. They don't get paid whilst they're on strike, they don't want to see people dying or in crisis because they feel they have no choice but to take drastic action.

Have you actually done any reading into why they are striking in the first place? What's the backstory? Do that first and then carefully consider where to place your anger.

Well that is fascinating that you know who I am.

So you agree that the deaths the rest of the year are due to the government mismanagement of the NHS.

You think that they should have scrapped the NHS and replaced it with a workable system. They have had 12 years to do this and haven't, therefore the state the NHS is in now is their fault. Yes?