British ambulance workers say they can no longer guarantee patient safety. More than 100,000 UK health workers have been laid off. As a result of this massive strike, ‘the safety of the people is at stake’, said correspondent Lia van Bekhoven. Despite pressure from the health sector, the government refused to accommodate the strikers.

According to Van Bekhoven, an ambulance only comes if ‘someone on the street has a heart attack, for example. But if you break your leg at home or if you have a stroke, you really have to come to the hospital yourself.’

But according to the paramedics, the emergency is high. Even without breaking down, ambulances take a long time to get to patients, says Van Bekhoven. ‘In normal cases, the waiting time is already twenty hours. In some cases, the patient is already dead by the time the ambulance arrives.’

Emergency number

You will also notice that in some areas the emergency number is no longer even being called. in other places people are advised not to do anything exciting, to leave the car at home or at least not to go on the road. And you are also asked not to use alcohol. “For the British it is the main task four days before Christmas,” says Van Bekhoven. But British Prime Minister Sunak did not want to meet the demands of his staff. “The government is standing firm and does not want wages to rise by more than four percent.”

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According to Van Bekhoven, the British already view their health care differently. ‘The NHS is more popular than the monarchy, there’s nothing better than the sacred house of the NHS. People are returning from there, out of need, but there is still a lot of sympathy for people who work in the health sector.’

But on the other hand, the salaries of people working in the NHS have not changed since 2008. ‘A new ambulance worker earns more than 30,000 euros a year, but in fact it should be more than 40,000 euros. Pressure on the government is increasing, but the answer is no, despite an understanding of the employee situation,” said Van Bekhoven.

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Dead end

Therefore the stalemate will continue for a while, thought Van Bekhoven. But a lot depends on public opinion. The strikes are a political event, so far the majority of Britons agree with the strikers, but appreciation is declining.’

Sunak’s strategy may also have been attributed to the fact that the longer a strike lasts, the greater the lack of understanding of it. ‘The longer the strike goes on, the less there is understanding of societal disorder and disruption and concern. I think that’s what the government wants.’