Sussex ambulance strike: 'We have to put our foot down and say enough is enough'

Angelique, who works for the ambulance service in Brighton, joined a nationwide strike on Wednesday (December 21). She rallied alongside colleagues on a picket line outside Brighton ambulance station on Elm Grove.

“The reason we are striking is because the NHS and ambulance service are on their knees,” she said. “It really feels like there's no welfare.

"The patients are suffering as we can't get to them on time. There's massive queues at the hospital so we can't get our patients in.

“We are all tired, strung out. We've had a couple of years of Covid and working really hard but now we are feeling we are not being treated very fairly.”

Angelique said she works 12-hour shifts but only gets a half an hour ‘unpaid meal break’.

"Unfortunately I've always got a 2-3 hour overrun so I'm working 14/15 hours, which I personally think is dangerous anyway,” she said. “How safe am I driving? How safe are my patients?

“It has come to this where we have to put our foot down and say enough is enough. We've got to do something about this now.

"None of us want to be here striking. All of us got into this job to look after patients but we have no choice. The government aren't listening to us and we need to do something about it."

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The GMB Union announced last week that paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff would go on strike twice either side of Christmas.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) workers walked out at 6am on Wednesday, and returned to work at 11.59pm. They will strike again next Wednesday (December 28), between 12.01am and 11.59pm.

Photos from the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton showed the military in action, supporting the few ambulance crews – helping to deliver critical patients. There was also a rare sight of A&E ramps devoid of ambulance vehicles.

Paramedic and GMB representative Ben joined the protest.

He said: "We are trying to deliver care in our communities without the resources to do so.

"We are seeing increasingly long waiting times for patients on the other end of the phone. When we get to them, they are often very poorly or unfortunately they've died.

“At the other end, at the hospitals, people are queuing for long periods of time, still trying to look after these patients. There just isn't any room at the inn and there's nowhere for us to offload them.”

Ben said NHS staff are ‘really struggling’ and those striking ‘are just standing here together to say we are not having it’.

“My colleagues on lower wages, lower bands, are on the same bills as anybody else,” he said. “They have to pay their mortgages, heat their homes and put their children through school but unfortunately the current crisis means they just don't have the money to do so.

“Something needs to be done. The government needs to step in. At the moment they don't seem to want to negotiate with us and seem to want to demonise us and vilify us in the press. We are passionate about what we do, we care about people.

"We are not doing this job for money but this is a real systemic problem with out NHS. To fix it, we need people who want to stay here, can afford to stay here and do the job they love to do and deliver the care they want to deliver."

NHS staff also gathered on a GMB Union picket line outside Worthing Ambulance Station in Durrington. They were joined by members of Worthing Borough Council’s labour group.

Carl Walker, deputy leader of Worthing Borough Council, said, “I’m proud to support our ambulance workers. The service is at breaking point and the government is putting people’s lives at risk by failing to pay these fantastic public servants what they deserve.

"It is important that we all get behind them to make sure that the government starts properly supporting both NHS staff and patients.”

Emma Taylor, cabinet member for citizens’ services, said those striking ‘have my unwavering thanks and support’.

She added: “It was important for me to attend the picket line and show solidarity with the striking ambulance workers. Despite being hailed as heroes during the pandemic, large numbers are now leaving the profession because they are being put under unimaginable stress and pressure while not being paid a wage they can live on.

"This government has been neglecting the NHS and its staff for years. They need better pay and conditions and the Government needs to properly fund the NHS.”

Hilary Schan, Labour candidate for Tarring ward in next year’s local elections said ‘it’s so important’ that striking NHS staff ‘know that the public are behind them’.

“They got us through the pandemic and they deserve to be treated properly,” she said. “The cost of living crisis is hitting people so hard this winter and we can’t have nurses and ambulance drivers saving lives and then being unable to afford to feed themselves.”

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