Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Berwick, has called for an urgent review of Union protocol, after meetings she held with Chiefs of the North East Ambulance Service last week. Anne-Marie Trevelyan held these talks following growing concerns about ambulance response times across North Northumberland, and in the aftermath of the death of 16 year old, Kyle Lowes, in Berwick, where it took twenty six minutes for an ambulance to arrive despite indications that there was an ambulance already on standby in the town at the time.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan has discovered that a protocol negotiated with the unions, dating from the Agenda for Change agreement in 2004, states that calls will not be put through to the nearest paramedics, if they are on breaks, even for Category A calls, which relate to the most serious, life threatening emergencies.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said "I am extremely concerned for the welfare of our wonderful paramedic team in Berwick who I know have been deeply affected by the recent tragic death of a young man. It is very important that we support them too and ensure they know how much we value their skills, commitment and dedication to community safety."
She added "As part of those union negotiations in 2004, it was agreed that in a 12-hour shift paramedics would be entitled to at least one 45 minute break, which would be 'unpaid and undisturbed'. It is quite right that paramedics, who work under enormous pressures, get assured downtime. However, it cannot be right that there are no options in a situation where an ambulance and paramedic team are available to attend the scene of a serious accident in a few minutes but the call is not put through because of Union stipulation about designated breaks."
Anne-Marie has now written to the regional Unison and GMB Unions asking for them to meet with her in Berwick and to discuss reviewing this protocol for life saving calls.
Anne-Marie said: "I would support these teams being compensated in terms of time in lieu or financially but when it comes to category A calls, which evidently require a rapid response and are a matter of life and death, it just seems unacceptable to me that the public cannot get life-saving treatment".Anne-Marie Trevelyan also said that she will be raising the issue with the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt; “This is a national problem and there are major issues in terms of retention, recruitment and morale within the hard working and heroic ambulance services."