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

Yabu

If it's so good - why is there such a recruitment and retention crisis then??!

Someone really needs to explain the disconnect here because what the public think about the packages clearly isn't enough to entice them in!

When it looked like NHS were going to be forced to have the Covid jabs there were threads on here saying that they wouldn't leave because the pay and benefits were better than they would get elsewhere, this was only about a year or two ago. There were nurse's laughing and saying people would never leave and would have the jabs to keep their jobs. I'm sure if I could be bothered, I can't, I could find the threads in the covid section.

These are skilled jobs we are talking about here, and vital ones. What could be more important than saving people's lives?

It isn't a job that everyone could do - I know I couldn't - while we also need people to work the supermarket tills, there is no comparison in terms of skill or importance.

What is interesting here is that people are all trying to bring each other down. Instead of saying ambulance staff/ paramedics/nurses etc are well paid compared to [insert badly paid job] how about saying all these jobs are badly paid and all should be paid more. Noone in this country should be in full time work and still rely on food banks or struggle to pay for heating. As many people do.

Because some people enjoy the job when they aren't under ridiculous pressures with unmanageable workloads and demands, they don't want to leave until they feel they have no choice.

Everybody deserves more money, but striking and letting people die surely isn't the answer.

People don't what to work in the NHS and are leaving...is letting people die by allowing that to happen any better?

If the paramedics/ambulance staff don't think the perfectly acceptable pay plus the many occupational benefits they get are good enough, then they could perhaps become carers in privately run care homes who are lucky if they get holiday or sick pay, let alone a pension.

Yes essential enough to pay properly and talk about pay. You don’t need a strike that kills people to do either.

The government are a complete disgrace to let things get to this point.

Why aren't you an NHS worker if you are so impressed by their benefits?
Your answer might give you some clues as to why there's a recruitment crisis and dispute over pay and conditions.
Wonder which is more stressful, being an NHS worker or working in Tesco? Hmmm tough one.
Though people working in Tesco should also get a pay rise, they are also key workers who supported everyone through the pandemic

I never said an ambulance driver should be paid the same as a banker.

But when push comes to shove which job is more essential?

brexit and cuts in immigration. a stagnant economy. bad or no trade deals. war in europe pushing up energy prices. a government in power who promote lower taxation and cuts to social care and health services. all traditionally voted for by the ageing population who are most at risk from these strikes...

and a 2 party system that asks us to choose between these elite public school w*nkers and a naval gazing labour party obsessed with liberal ideals and outing each other for not being woke enough.. jeremy corbin et al FFS

So what happens when everyone does that and everyone decides it's not worth going into health care?

What's your plan then?

Paramedics and ambulance staff are a complete disgrace.

How many people are just dreading a loved one needing an ambulance and this bunch are marching about with placards.

That doesn’t solve the issue. It’s the same as the pandemic when everyone was crying out to close down the private sector. You need the tax receipts from private to fund public.

The idea it’s not needed is incorrect.

Maybe if the government got a grip on why peoples costs are spiralling out of control then demands for huge rises wouldn't be there.

The biggie is housing- a total lack of social housing or self declare mortgages means so many working people are forced into private rentals , with no controls and in many parts of the country these levels have reached astronomic points. It's hard if you have social housing or even a smaller mortgage that you have had many years to grasp that £1500 a month plus is quite common in many areas for 2 and 3 bed flats and houses- we aren't talking mansions! You then get posts saying 'well move where it's cheaper' - that's not always a simple thing involving jobs, childcare, family responsibilities, schools and large amounts of money upfront etc -

On top of this we still have astronomical fuel costs , even though wholesale rates have dropped a fair bit. There seems to me to be a case for maximum RRP needed on fuel based on wholesale rates-

Food whilst high isa bit more controllable , as you have choices, but housing, utilities and fuel is far more out your control .

The country needs a total reset, fresh ideas and thoughts around what's fair for most. Not just ideas benefitting particular sections of society for electoral reasons.

As I've said on another post- the business centre I work at has been full for several months of non EU immigrants having visas processed. They are by no means all highly paid professionals with great English , so contrary to what they like people to think they are allowing and encouraging immigration - just not young , fit EU workers and their families , who it seems have to jump through hoops !! What a pointless exercise Brexit is and im quite sure it's not what many voted for either outside those particular communities.

If we brought back some kind of EU integration , even a Norway type arrangement, rent controls and shared ownership beyond new builds , taxed any income by corporations doing business here but with head offices elsewhere ( other countries do this) - then there would be a significant boost almost immediately. Also a re look at NHS, far too many people using A&E due to lack of being able to see a GP or having a proper minor injuries unit within a sensible distance . I don't think I've ever visited a town in Germany with 12,000 people or more that hasn't at least got a cottage hospital that can deal with most situations apart from very specialist or life critical

i couldn't believe what I was reading (the health secretary's comments). Just shocking!!

Staff wouldn't be striking if the Tories had ensured that pay and conditions were reasonable throughout their 12 year stint in government!!!

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow - the bankers in this country are keeping the country afloat in payment of taxes, you do know that right? The whole country relies in the financial system working and it is one of the most efficient parts of the UK economy. So arguably it is more essential, in an indirect way. If you actually look at the numbers. Many solid drivers could learn to be an ambulance driver pretty quickly. It isn’t a role that requires years of training and understanding of complex derivatives does it.

Indeed, it is the government's refusal to do either of those things that has resulted in this situation.

"Somebody else is treated worse" is not a well thought out rationale for treating someone badly.

Of course carers should be treated better, and I'd encourage carers to engage with unions to fight for better pay and conditions. I've worked as a carer myself in the past.

But what you are suggesting is like saying "carers should put up with their poor conditions because another group is treated worse". You are supporting a race to the bottom and encouraging workers not to fight for their rights, and to put up with what the wealthy decide is their due.

Bin men here were going too but all was resolved.

One of my parents already died this year due to NHS failings. A fortnight ago I sat in an ambulance queuing for five hours with my mother. I listened to the paramedics talk about their despair in the job, the stresses they face, how they can’t get to people because of the state of the nhs. They’re striking because conditions are already at rock bottom…. Because they literally can’t cope with all the shit they have to carry. The other alternative is they just leave, that’s the point they’re at - so there would be even less staff to come to calls.

Has anyone actually watched the programme Ambulance or something? It seems to be more social care. We aren't talking trauma and tragedy every day or even every week, of course that will happen but the nuts and bolts of the job seems to be transporting vulnerable people to hospital.

I think a band 5 or 6 salary fits that role.

OMG! How many times. Just because there are jobs that are worse paid doesn't mean that people shouldn't strike for better pay.

And people are leaving social care because it is so badly paid. It is because there is noone to care for elderly people that they are unable to be discharged from in the hospitals!
All these occupations should be paid properly and not treated like they are essentially hobbies! They are vital occupations and should be paid accordingly.

Why are people in caring professions supposed to be happy to work without adequate pay? Because they do their job because it’s fulfilling? Because they’re supposed to be compassionate they’re just supposed to accept real terms pay cuts? What a crock of shite. Caring compassionate people are just as entitled to adequate pay as everyone else!

striking nurses and ambulance crew, I see you and I support you ✊🏻