In England and Wales, about 25,000 ambulance workers were out of work on Wednesday. The emergency doctors, rescue drivers and co demand higher salaries and better working conditions. Health Secretary Steve Barclay acknowledged that the chronically underfunded NHS health service was under great pressure.
Barclay told the BBC that dissatisfaction was mainly centered on the long waiting times when transferring patients from ambulances to the emergency room. The government has already pledged investments. However, the latter does not want to increase their offer of 4.75 percent more wages. It was said that increases in line with inflation cannot be financed and would only drive up prices for consumers.
Emergency call in case of danger to life
The background is that workers are demanding wage increases in line with inflation, which was recently at over ten percent. Despite the strike, the NHS health service called for emergency services to be called if there was a danger to life. The unions had announced that they would provide basic insurance. General practitioners and pharmacies are open as usual.
In Britain, there have been repeated strikes in many sectors for months. Next week, clinic staff are planning new strikes. The railway and post office, teachers and bus drivers are also affected. The government now wants to curtail the right to strike by law to ensure basic services in critical areas such as health care. As reported, the opposition and trade unions reacted negatively.
Source: Krone
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