The Heart to Heart Blog

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999 - I Don't Believe It

by John - 23:32 on 06 January 2012

I make no apology for returning for a third time to the ongoing debacle between the Scottish Ambulance Service and ambulance workers over the issue of responding to emergency call-outs during breaks.

If you missed my previous entries on this despicable little saga, you can read them here - 
999 - Closed for Lunch
999 - Ambulance Update

To bring the story up-yo-date, today Friday the 6th January 2012, ambulance staff and their unions have rejected a new deal to increase payments for having their breaks interrupted by emergency calls.

Fears that patients’ lives could be put at risk have been rekindled following this decision by paramedics and ambulance crews to reject the latest management offer aimed at breaking the deadlock.

Margaret Watt chairwoman of the Scotland Patients Association said of this latest offer rejection -
"This situation has been dragging on for more than a year now.
I think the public and patients will be very angry about the failure to find a resolution because it puts lives at risk here." 

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:-"This is disappointing. I have been very clear that I want this situation to be resolved as soon as possible."
I would be interested to know what her definition of 'soon' is.

The MSP Jackson Carlaw said of the unions rejection of the latest offer as: -   "This is blind self-interest and the general public will find it incredibly hard to understand why these workers are having tea breaks when people's lives are at stake."

I can only repeat what I said in my first post '999 - Closed for Lunch -
"All the relevant parties, the SAS, the unions, and I would include also Nicola Sturgeon, should be locked in a room until they agree upon a solution to this urgent and pressing problem.
I would beg them to do so with some haste – for all our sakes"

- but then, they didn't listen the last time, will they listen this time?

You will recall that this all flared up when Mandy Mathieson died in her home ay Timintoul whilst an ambulance technician was on a break only 800 yards away. Her brother has called on all sides in the dispute to -

“get it sorted – whatever it needs”

Amen to that!

Source: BBC

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