UNION leaders yesterday angrily condemned the planned strikebreaking by the army and police, announced on the eve of today’s 7am-11am four-hour NHS pay strike.
Military personnel and police vans are being drafted in to drive and staff ambulances
The Ministry of Defence said about 130 military drivers will replace striking London Ambulance Service and North West Ambulance Service drivers.
One hundred military drivers will be drafted into London while 30 will assist ambulance services in the North West.
The Metropolitan Police said that, in London, 74 police vehicles will also be used for low-priority calls.
Merseyside Police said it will assist the ambulance service by making five police vehicles available for use with first-aid trained staff.
An MoD spokesman confirmed personnel from the Army, RAF and Navy would be involved.
Unison head of health Christina McAnea said: ‘The fact the government did not even try to talk to trade unions to arrange emergency cover in the capital is outrageous.
‘We have agreed emergency plans with all the other ambulance trusts in England.’
GMB national officer Rehana Azam said the union had written to the chief executive of London Ambulance Service (LAS) with concerns about using the Met and military drivers.
She said: ‘GMB does not accept that this is last-minute contingency planning but a deliberate attempt by government to cause concerns among the public and to undermine the hard work of LAS staff taking strike action.’
Azam added: ‘NHS Staff take action with a heavy heart as their only priority is to deliver the best patient care, quality and outcomes. Even after staff voted to take strike action and action short of a strike the Secretary of State for Health has refused to meet with the unions representing NHS staffs.
‘The strike has arisen because of the government’s overruling of the independent, NHS Pay Review Body’s (PRB) recommendation for a 1% consolidated pay rise across the board for all NHS staff.
‘The intervention by government means that the 1% will only be available to approximately 40% of NHS employees and it will not be consolidated into basic pay.
‘Government intervention is in stark contrast to its view when the independent Pay Review Body for MPs recommended that MPs should receive a pay rise of 11%.
‘In that case the government said it could not interfere with the recommendation because it had come from an independent body. Our members are angry as there seems to be one rule for MPs and a different rule for everyone else.’
The Royal College of Midwives is also joining today’s action.
