Steve Barkley faces mother of sick daughter over ‘horrendous damage’ to NHS
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The public has been warned against “risky activities” as thousands of ambulance staff across England and Wales join nurses in strike action for pay.
Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB Union, said the government could resolve the dispute at any time.
“We’ve tried everything to raise wages, the issue that’s driving this row, but the government won’t listen and won’t talk,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.
The strike will increase pressure on NHS services, with hospitals saying the action will put patients at risk.
The NHS Confederation, which represents national health organisations, said the strike had put patient safety at risk.
“We cannot guarantee patient safety, we cannot avoid the risks in the context of this industrial action,” chief executive Matthew Taylor told BBC radio on Tuesday.
The government said the “deeply regrettable” strike would mean fewer ambulances on the road.
The latest strike action comes amid record levels of demand and delays in A&E services across the country.
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A 93-year-old woman leaves “screaming in pain” after waiting 25 hours for an ambulance
A 93-year-old woman was left “screaming in pain” on the floor of her care home for 25 hours while she waited for an ambulance to arrive, her family say.
Elizabeth Davies broke her hip after suffering a fall at her care home in north west Wales at the weekend.
Furvah Shah21 December 2022 09:21
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Derbyshire Health and Care System announces a critical incident
Derbyshire’s health and care system has reported a critical incident due to pressure on services reaching new levels in the last 24 hours.
The service is experiencing a rise in the number of patients arriving at hospitals by ambulance and increased waiting times in emergency departments.
People are being urged to call 999 or visit A&E only if it is urgent, while staff try to manage and ease the strain by providing more beds, canceling non-essential training and diverting staff.
Furvah Shah December 21, 2022 9:17 am
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The union general says it is “quite likely” that the strikes will continue into the new year
Unison general secretary Christina Makanea said it was “entirely likely” the strikes would continue into the new year.
Ms Makanea said the NHS was “falling apart” under this government and was “genuinely shocked” by Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s claims that there were little or no contingency plans in place.
Speaking on LBC radio, she said it was “absolute nonsense” and a “complete and utter lie” to suggest that unions had made it almost impossible for the government to make plans.
“I think they’re glossing over the fact that he waited until the day before the strike to even ask us about contingency planning,” she said.
On how listeners should react during strikes if they’ve been in a car accident, fallen off a bike or fallen off a ladder, she said: “They should be as concerned today as they are any other day, because that’s exactly what they’re cases where it’s almost impossible to get an ambulance to come out because the ambulances are so stretched.
Ms Makanea said there were thousands of vacancies and “the National Health Service, the whole system, is effectively falling apart under this government”.
The union boss added that it was “quite likely” that the strikes would continue into the new year, adding that the government needed to “admit” to staff that they could not provide a safe and reliable service due to understaffing and poor planning.
Furvah Shah 21 December 2022 09:00
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Barkley blames unions for ‘uncertainty’ in emergency coverage
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said there was “uncertainty” and “instability” in emergency cover during Wednesday’s strike, accusing unions of failing to ensure staff would respond to all emergencies.
Mr Barclay met union representatives on Tuesday to urge them to ensure category two emergency calls to 999 – including heart attacks and strokes – are answered as well as the most immediate life-threatening category one emergencies .
But union representatives insisted that emergency cover was agreed with individual ambulance trusts, with regional differences down to different pressures and decisions by trust leaders about how to prioritize calls.
Mr Barclay told GB News that unions were “reluctant to provide exemptions to cover all life-threatening and emergency calls – they said they wanted to negotiate them on a local trust basis. This creates much more uncertainty.”
He told BBC Breakfast: “If you’re calling on people to respond to life-threatening and emergency calls from the column, it creates further instability.”
Furvah Shah21 December 2022 08:46
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Union secretary says Health Secretary Steve Barclay ‘insulting’ ambulance workers
Health Secretary Steve Barclay is ‘insulting’ ambulance workers, union secretary says.
Mr Barclay accused the unions of making a “conscious decision” to “harm” patients in England and Wales by striking.
Rachel Harrison, national secretary of the GMB union, told the BBC: “It’s really insulting that the Secretary of State has said that. They have not taken the decision to take strike action lightly.
“They feel they have been forced into this position because year after year the government has failed to listen to them.”
Asked if there would be harm to patients as a result of the walkout, she said: “The sad reality is that patients are harmed every day and that’s when we don’t strike.
“The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives reports that rising numbers of handover delays and waiting times are leading to patient harm and deaths.
“So this is what happens when we don’t strike. Issues like these have forced our members to take this position.”
Furvah Shah December 21, 2022 8:40 am
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In pictures: Ambulance workers strike in Coventry, West Midlands
Ambulance workers are picketing outside Ambulance Headquarters in Coventry this morning during a planned strike coordinated by unions GMB, Unite and Unison over pay and conditions.
(Getty Images)
(PA)
(PA)
Furvah Shah December 21, 2022 08:25 am
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Health Secretary Steve Barclay accuses unions of choosing to ‘harm’ patients
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has accused unions of making a “conscious decision” to “harm” patients as thousands of ambulance staff walk out on the first of two one-day strikes.
In The Daily Telegraph, Mr Barclay wrote: “We now know that NHS emergency plans will not cover all 999 calls.
“Ambulance unions have made a conscious choice to harm patients.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said claims that serious calls would go unanswered were “misleading” and “at worst, deliberate fear-mongering” by ministers.
Furvah Shah21 December 2022 08:15
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NHS chief executive says ‘strike could not come at worse time’
“The strikes could not have come at a worse time because of the pressures the NHS is facing,” says the NHS chief executive.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, told BBC Breakfast that he wanted to “encourage our colleagues in the unionized ambulance service to work as co-operatively as possible through today’s industrial action to try to minimize harm to the patient’.
He added: “These strikes come on top of the fact that we are already in a very challenging situation.
“In most parts of the country, the ambulance service is quite far from meeting its targets for responding to these category two cases – so not absolutely urgent, life-threatening, but still very important emergencies and critical cases.
“So this strike couldn’t come at a worse time because of the pressures the NHS is facing.”
Furvah Shah December 21, 2022 8:10 am
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Government to blame if people die during ambulance strike, says union leader
Rishi Sunak’s government will be blamed for any additional deaths that occur during Wednesday’s ambulance strike, a health union leader said.
Christina Makanea, Unison’s general secretary, said the extra deaths would be “absolutely” the fault of ministers because of their refusal to negotiate a pay rise.
“They were completely irresponsible,” she told TalkTV. “It is completely irresponsible of them to refuse to enter into any discussions or negotiations with us.”
Furvah Shah 21 December 2022 08:00
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Health minister says public must ‘use common sense’ amid ambulance strikes
Health Secretary Stephen Barclay MP says the public must “use their common sense” as ambulance services strike across the country today.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Barclay said: “The public needs to exercise common sense about the activities they carry out.”
He added that people should be “mindful” of the pressure on health services as life-threatening calls are prioritized but no national exemptions apply.
Furvah Shah21 December 2022 07:45
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