Bosses ask 999 crews to undertake unpaid shifts

AMBULANCE chiefs are asking off-duty staff to attend urgent call-outs in their spare time to ease pressure on colleagues.

The unpaid ‘staff responder’ scheme is being set up by East of England Ambulance Service to ‘support the timely response’ to life-threatening emergencies.

The scheme will involve 15 staff who are emergency medical technicians with highlevel qualifications.

They will provide cover in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and parts of Suffolk. The trust is also responsible for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex.

Union bosses warn the plan asks more of already-stretched staff and one paramedic branded it a ‘nail in the coffin’ for morale. The source told the BBC they were working nonstop every shift, putting in extra hours and dealing with huge treatment delays at hospitals.

Last month chiefs at the East of England trust were called to Parliament to face questions over response times running at more than double their national targets.

A spokesman said the responder scheme had been launched at the request of staff and was entirely voluntary.