North East Ambulance crews see lunch breaks altered as pressure mounts

Staff will be given £5 as an incentive to embrace the changes
The changes will be introduced in January The changes will be introduced in January
The changes will be introduced in January

Ambulance workers will have their lunch breaks altered to allow the service to work more hours as Covid-19 grips the nation.

The temporary change will see staff asked to take their lunch breaks away from their station, rather than returning back, for a financial award.

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The temporary change is being made to "reduce the risk to patients amid sustained significant pressures being felt across the NHS".

The North East Ambulance Service has been working at the highest level of operational alert since July.

The strain on the service has resulted in some patients waiting several hours for an ambulance response.

A recent three-day review of meal break arrangements found that emergency crews in the North East could be unavailable for nearly 60 hours due to time spent travelling back to base for their break.

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That is the equivalent of being able to respond to 37 additional incidents a day.

As a result, the North East Ambulance Service will ask staff to stand down for a break at a hospital or at their nearest ambulance station, rather than returning to base.

As an incentive, staff will receive a payment of £5 for every break taken away from base.

The temporary change to lunch breaks will be in place from Monday, January 3 until March 31 2022.

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Vicky Court, deputy chief operating officer, said: “We are making these temporary changes to reduce the risk of patients being harmed by ambulance delays.

"The safety of patients and our staff is our top priority and the evidence is overwhelming that making this temporary change will allow us to see more patients quicker and reduce the potential harm that occurs when there are long waits for an ambulance.

“This is not a permanent change. It will only last over winter up to the end of March while we continue to experience the enormous pressures upon our service.

“In a bid to try and avoid these delays, crews are often sent late for their breaks, impacting on their health and wellbeing, so we think this temporary measure will also improve the wellbeing of some of our staff who have not been able to take a proper break for several hours because the distances they have to travel back to their base location.”

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