AMBULANCE staff say they will continue industrial action over proposals to introduce care assistants to emergency vehicles in Yorkshire.

Members of Unite today (Tuesday, April 2) took part in a 24-hour strike over the plans for emergency care assistants to work alongside more highly-trained paramedics with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Pickets were mounted in York and Haxby in North Yorkshire and at about a dozen stations throughout the rest of Yorkshire in protest at the proposals and the recent derecognition of the union by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

The proposals are part of a bid to introduce savings of £46m over the next five years.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust claims the changes will maintain a high-quality response service.

But Unite believes the move will result in 999 responses becoming a “postcode lottery” with some patients receiving fully-trained paramedics and others getting lesser-qualified staff.

Today (Tuesday, April 2), Unite senior representative and paramedic Debbie Wilkinson said members would continue the industrial action. Unite members also began an overtime ban on Tuesday, March 26.

“We have a continuous overtime ban at the moment and there will be more days of industrial action planned,” she said.

“I do think we’re starting to get the issue across to the public. We’re concerned about public safety aspects.

"The introduction of Emergency Care Assistants is also leading to 360 staff being downgraded. They’re going to be expected to forget all they’ve learnt and will eventually lose pay and pensions.”

She added: “Other ambulance services have found other ways of saving money without cutting front line services.”

Paul Mudd, locality director of emergency operations at the ambulance service said the strike action involved less than ten per cent of its staff.

He said: “The trust recognises the legal right for those of our staff who are members of Unite to participate in industrial action, but our focus is to balance that right with the need to first safeguard patient care and safety.

“However, I do not believe that industrial action in this form is in the best interests of patients, and it is deeply concerning for a trade union representing ambulance service workers to strike without making any concessions to patient safety.”