“I agree entirely with the concerns of Unison, as documented above. I am married to a member of staff working within the Great Western Ambulance Service. I believe Unison have asked their members not to make personal comments at this stage, but i would like to say something myself. The changes that have and are continuing to take affect currently within GWAS are having a very real and negative impact. My husband and I have a young child and since the new shift pattern has come in to place it has definitely lessened our quality of life as a family. Almost every shift now extends beyond 12 hours and sometimes this pattern goes on for days. Many people are now having difficulties with child care and other responsibilities, where previously they had managed to find some kind of balance, and even then it was difficult. I can hardly believe that in addition to this 'they' are pushing for one break in a shift instead of two, that's in a 12 hour shift. The issues raised here are not even about pay, they are about quality of life and fairness. I commend the staff who work in this service. They do an incredible job, and don't just have to deal with medical emergencies, but also drunks, drug addicts, difficult and challenging social situations, and the list goes on and on. It feels as though none of the staff were actually listened to during the so called 'consultation period' and this is so often the case. Inevitably these services will suffer because the staff become de-moralised and de-motivated, and its not like there is even a high wage incentive. The men and women who choose to do this job are good people, who we need in society, i only wish they were shown the gratitude they deserve. The problem as always is at higher management level and at government level. Isn't it crazy that amidst a damaging recession, bankers are still awarded huge bonuses on top of high salaries, yet the people who are saving lifes and spending their every day attending to the needs of others, even those who are rude and aggressive towards them, do not recieve any kind of bonus or reward for their duties. They face ever greater cuts to their services and changes continually take place which squeeze them tighter and tighter. Why should they accept one break in stead of two? This isn't even accepted in retail. Why should they work shifts which are even more unsociable? My husband believes in the work he does and i am in full support of him, but it does come at a cost. These changes are creating greater challenges for so many families and couples like us and its just not fair, and I don't believe for one minute that it is neccessary. The service cannot be stretched anymore and it is unsafe to make this kind of attempt. These issues should concern all of us, because we are talking about a service that affects all of us, its invaluable! The injustice saddens me.”

“A paramedics job is bad enough without some jobsworth muppet interfearing with the hours worked 15 hours behind an a steering wheel in an ambulance going at 40-60mph with only an hours break.. surely this is against the law.Lorry drivers are only allowed to drive so many hours so surely this must apply also to ambulance drivers. Also I'm not sure that a paramedic is still alert to the situation of a dying patient after 12-15 hours stress.
Comments please from paramedics or ambulance assistants!!!”