West Midlands ambulance worker claims NHS has become 'stepping stone' to private sector

Sally Husselbee, emergency medical technician at West Midlands Ambulance Service, braved the weather as she took to the picket line in Wolverhampton with a group of others.

It comes as around 25,000 ambulance staff nationally walked out as the long-running row between union chiefs and the Government continued on Wednesday.

Ms Husselbee, A GMB union rep, said: "It's almost like we are a stepping stone to the private sector, to be honest, there is nothing attractive to keep new and old staff here.

"The average amount of time a new staff member stays in the role now is three years. It's more like we are just there for staff to get their degrees and move on to the less pressured, the higher paid private roles."

GMB union members of the Wolverhampton Ambulance Hub, on Ettingshall Road, Wolverhampton, were among those who walked out on the national day of action.

The GMB rep talked about the support the strikers have received on the streets, she said: "Everyone has been really supportive, I have even had people on the job who have told us they support us.

"It's been really positive, everyone has been papping their horns and shouting, we really haven't had anything negative so far. The public is obviously behind us on this."

The new round of strikes comes as union and government heads struggle to meet at the table to come to acceptable terms.

The rep continued: "There hasn't been any movement from the government at all, and that's the real issue here. It hasn't changed for months, there was a meeting the other day, but nothing came from it.

"The same pressures that we face on the front line are still the exact same, we are still waiting at hospitals every day and we are still really struggling to offload patients."

Shaun Caswell-Cox, a Patient Transport Service ambulance driver, added there were concerns over patients who may be discharged prematurely.

He said: "The issue really is if a patient is sent home when they shouldn't be, their families are more likely to call us again when something happens, and it just ends up in one big circle, it's a real issue."

Ms Husselbee also accused the government of using "bully tactics", as she talked about Business Secretary, Grant Sharp's new proposed anti-strike law, she said: "It's absolutely bully tactics.

"It's really just an attempt to keep us quiet and to reduce the number of ambulance workers who attend these strikes, it's really harsh."

The new proposed law will make it so some workers have to work for strike days, and could be sacked if they refuse.

GMB, Unison and Unite have each agreed to hold further strikes on January 23 if a solution is not met, promising a walk-out of at least two-thirds of ambulance staff nationally.

Ms Husselbee talked about the coming strikes: "We are going to be standing outside of Dudley Ambulance Hub, and we are going to have all three unions on board on the same day.

"I know that in Dudley if all three unions do go out then it will be about two-thirds of the workforce. This coming strike should have a much bigger impact so that we are heard."