‘Morale is poor...staff burn out’

PAUL Turner, deputy secretary at GMB’s North West Ambulance Service branch, told the M.E.N. more ambulances are desperately needed, but also called on the public to ‘take more responsibility for their own care’.

“We are in a very poor state of affairs, we really are,” he said. “Morale is poor. Staff are dropping, they are just exhausted. We are lucky if they get something to eat and drink during a 12-hour shift.

“This used to be a 35-year career, but you will be lucky to do 10 years now, because people are just burning out. We talk about members of the public abusing the service, but other parts of the NHS abuse the service as well. It seems to be that if no one else wants to deal with something the ambulance service gets called out.

“It would be really good for someone from senior management to stand up publicly and say ‘We cannot cope with the cutbacks and the demand’. But they won’t because they are scared they will lose their jobs. I do not have a solution, other than more vehicles on the road.

“It sounds harsh but we also need to start saying no more. We need to tell people ‘No, you do not need an ambulance’.

“Members of the public need to know not all ambulances are manned by a paramedic and they also need to start taking more responsibility for their own care. If you don’t need an ambulance, don’t call one.”