Deal in sight to stop more deaths during 999 tea breaks

The deadlock may finally be broken in the long-running dispute over extra payments to ambulance crews who have to respond to emergency calls during their meal breaks.

Three weeks ago the three ambulance unions - GMB, Unite and Unison - rejected a management offer of an annual payment of 250 and 45 minutes compensatory overtime to provide cover during mealtimes.

But a new and enhanced offer is set to be accepted by the members of all three unions. The result of the ballot is expected to be officially announced on 20 September.

If accepted, it will mean that ambulance crews will only be called to answer category A - immediately life-threatening - emergencies while they are on their breaks with the intention that interruptions "should" be limited to only one emergency call per shift.

In return paramedics and technicians will receive a 50 payment for each individual call-out on top of an annual payment of 250.

Under the present terms, staff willing to be disturbed during breaks receive a 250 annual payment and a 5 one-off payment for a call-out.

The three unions said in a joint statement: "The joint unions have received a revised offer from the SAS which they will now be balloting their respective membership on with a recommendation for acceptance of the offer which is the best which can be achieved by negotiation."

The dispute over payments for ambulance crews responding to emergency calls began following the furore over the deaths of two patients when the nearest ambulance crews failed to respond to 999 calls because they were on rest breaks.

In October last year, Mandy Mathieson died of a heart attack at her home in the Speyside village of Tomintoul after an ambulance technician, who was on duty at the ambulance depot just 800 yards from her home, chose not to respond to the emergency call because he was on a tea break.

She died before an ambulance reached Tomintoul from Grantown-on-Spey, 21 miles away.

In April this year, the family of three-year-old Martyn Gray had to wait 48 minutes for paramedics to reach their home in Crieff, Perthshire, as they battled to resuscitate him after he became seriously ill at home.

An ambulance crew was less than ten minutes away but they failed to respond as they were on a break. Martyn died while his family waited for paramedics to arrive.

The two deaths sparked calls for a major shake-up in emergency cover by ambulance crews, and earlier this year the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) began negotiations with the unions.

The ballots will be concluded by 16 September and the unions will advise the SAS of the result on 20 September.