Ambulance workers strike in Ellesmere Port in national pay row

Paramedics and support staff walked out for the second time this winter in a dispute over pay, with no signs of it being resolved anytime soon.

Speaking ahead of the strike action, Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said the walk-out was occurring following failed talks with the Health Secretary on Monday.

Workers at Passenger Services, the non-emergency transport run by West Midlands Ambulance Service, based at Rossmore Road, Ellesmere Port. These staff continued to provide transport for dialysis and cancer patients. Picture: Ray McHale.

She said: "Today’s talks fell well short of anything substantial that could stop this week’s strikes.

“There was some engagement on pay – but not a concrete offer that could help resolve this dispute and make significant progress on the recruitment and retention crisis.

"The public expects the Government to treat these talks seriously – it's time they got on with it.”

Paramedics who work for North West Ambulance Service, taking industrial action in Ellesmere Port. Picture: Ray McHale.

The North West Ambulance Service, which was affected by the strike action, said in a statement posted on social media: "Yesterday's strike, as anticipated, created challenges across more areas of the service, including our 999 and 111 call centres.

"However, again, we want to thank the public for listening to our calls for support. They’ve understood the importance of only ringing us in life-threatening emergencies, which meant we had resources available to answer their calls and send them an ambulance.

"We want to see this continue to help ease the challenges of today and the future.

"We also want to thank our staff, NHS, military and other partners for their ongoing tireless work during a difficult period."

The Health Secretary has now been urged to “come to the table and talk about pay” as further talks began to tackle NHS disputes.

Paramedics who work for North West Ambulance Service, taking industrial action in Ellesmere Port. Picture: Felicity Dowling.

The leader of the body representing NHS Trusts urged the Health Secretary to act on the issue.

Interim chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said the fallout from industrial action “diverts attention away from the things the NHS is absolutely keen to focus on”, such as cutting waiting times and getting community services back on track.

“We really hope they (unions and Government) can have a constructive conversation and avert some industrial action,” she told Times Radio.

“It would be great if the Secretary of State would come to the table and talk about pay because hopefully then that would set the pattern for… paramedics, for ambulance staff, for nurses.”

The Health Secretary was meeting BMA representatives along with the hospital doctors’ union HCSA and the British Dental Association on Thursday.

The meetings come after 14 health unions announced that they will not be submitting evidence to the NHS pay review body for the next wage round while the current industrial disputes remain unresolved.

The 14 unions, representing more than one million ambulance staff, nurses, porters, healthcare assistants, physiotherapists and other NHS workers in England, have called for direct pay talks with ministers.

Unions said they believe the lengthy pay review body process is not able to deliver a deal that resolves the current pay and staffing dispute, which has led to a series of strikes.

Further strike action is planned if the dispute is not resolved, with an ambulance strike planned for January 23.