Ambulance crews on course to lose public’s goodwill

mbulance crews enjoy respect from the public because people depend on their expertise and skill in an emergency. But now this respect is in danger of disappearing because of the crews’ absurd decision to reject a pay offer aimed at resolving the issue of their meal breaks.

Ambulance crews enjoy respect from the public because people depend on their expertise and skill in an emergency. But now this respect is in danger of disappearing because of the crews’ absurd decision to reject a pay offer aimed at resolving the issue of their meal breaks.

The background to this dispute will be familiar to most readers. Mandy Mathieson, 33, collapsed after a heart attack in October last year at her home in Tomintoul. An ambulance technician stationed less than half a mile away refused the call for help because he was on a meal break. Ms Mathieson died.

Imagine the outcry if a major fire broke out, or there was a multiple vehicle collision, and firefighters and police officers refused to attend because they happened to be in the canteen at the time? Dropping routine activities and rushing to an emergency is what emergency workers do.

But not ambulance workers, it seems. They have rejected an offer from the Scottish Ambulance Service which would have paid them more money, not just for the possibility that their meal breaks might be disrupted, but even more money if they had to abandon their cutlery mid-meal.

Seeing sense, their unions had advised them to accept the offer. The defence of the rejection – that the job is stressful and breaks are vital to counter that – is feeble. Ambulances are an emergency service and its workers should accept that, before the people who pay their wages start to reject them.