Ambulance workers have described horrifying scenes of elderly patients dying on the floor of their homes while waiting for help as staff left home amid the ongoing wave of strikes on Monday.
Ambulance workers, paramedics, emergency room workers and dispatchers joined the picket line at the South East Coast Ambulance Station in Crawley, West Sussex on Monday afternoon as more than 11,000 GMB union members across England and Wales walked out. Unite ambulance workers are also on strike again today and Wednesday in some areas.
Members of the GMB and Unite said they were trying to prevent a “collapse” of the health service and accused the government of ignoring their concerns about wages and patient safety.
Lisa, 30, a trainee paramedic, described how a few months ago her team cared for an elderly woman who “lay on the floor for hours.”
She said I: “We had to please someone because they lay dying on the floor for hours. She lay on the floor for so long that her body could not stand it.” She added: “It’s a terrible feeling.”
Ben, 25, a paramedic, said he received a call from a patient who went into cardiac arrest last year. It took the team 40 minutes to get to him.
“We were on our way to cardiac arrest within 40 minutes and we are counting on this poor guy’s family to resuscitate him. And for obvious reasons, they stopped before we got there,” he said. There simply wasn’t enough coverage, he said, preventing paramedics from getting to everyone they needed.
However, Jess Lawson, the call manager, said: “People call us and say they cut their nails too short, have an infected toenail, or ask to be driven to a doctor’s appointment or a scan at the hospital.”
“We get a lot of frivolous things that do not need to go to the ambulance.”
Other patients asked for a prescription renewal when they couldn’t reach their GP or waited too long for a less urgent 111.
“If there’s anything we could ask the public for, it’s the correct use of 999 and 111 services,” said Grace Smith, the dispatcher.
Jess Northist, another coordinator, said that means people who really need help have to wait. “Morale is so low because we can’t help with challenges where people really need us,” she said. “If someone calls 999 and has to wait five minutes, life ends.”
Ben said he was on strike because wages were below the living wage and mostly because of the stressful conditions. Many colleagues leave to become paramedics or general practitioners because the pay and routes are better, he says, and he wouldn’t advise people to volunteer.
The paramedics agreed that the service was “exhausting” experienced staff due to salaries and a grueling schedule that required regular overtime hours.
Jody Harrison, 26, a paramedic, said she went to unpaid one-day workouts because she wanted to get better and also because she didn’t want to call because she didn’t know what to do. She has been the most experienced member of her team lately, working the night shift despite only having three years of experience.
“It’s a little scary – I was sure, but it’s scary for the bigger picture. If I got sick, they would all be fresh out of school.”
Ambulance technician Kyle Warner was among those who supported the picket line strike near East Midlands Ambulance Service Gorse Hill Ambulance Station in Leicester.
He said: “The National Health Service is collapsing. The government is clearly not listening, they are unwilling to provide the resources they need or [funding] a comprehensive health care system as a whole, which only paralyzes us.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.