Ambulance strikes commence outside University Hospital Waterford
Tony Maddigan and Sean Wade on the picket line this morning outside University Hospital Waterford
Nationwide, ambulance workers have commenced strike action resulting from a pay dispute.
Outside University Hospital Waterford (UHW) today, workers gathered for a 24-hour stoppage, with further stoppages scheduled if the dispute is not resolved.
The workers say that the action arises from the HSE’s failure to implement the recommendations of an independent report published in 2020. The report recommended that ambulance workers’ pay scales reflect changes in their responsibilities and workloads over the last 20 years.
Speaking to the Waterford News & Star this morning, workers on the picket line at UHW said that ambulance cover is still available to the public while the strike is ongoing.
The qualifications, clinical responsibilities and operational duties of ambulance personnel have expanded significantly in recent years.
To reflect these growing responsibilities, an independent report issued in 2020 recommended enhanced pay scales. However, none of these recommendations have been implemented.
Last month, Unite the Union and Siptu members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.
In Waterford today there was a large group of workers taking action outside UHW.
Ambulance service workers Sean Wade and Tony Madigan both spoke on the increasing responsibilities that have been placed on ambulance service workers over the years.
Mr. Wade said that traditionally the ambulance service would have been a patient transfer service which attended emergency calls to transfer people to hospitals for treatment.
Nowadays, ambulance service personnel diagnose and treat patients on the road, making vital medical decisions to save lives.
Mr. Wade added: “In the past twenty years there has been a huge emphasis on upskilling all the practitioners. Every emergency technician, paramedic and advanced paramedic you see in an ambulance have advanced all their skills and the job has completely changed. The only thing that has not changed is the level of pay and recognition."
Another worker on the picket line today was Tony Madigan, who has been in the ambulance service for 25 years.
He said: “In the past, we would place patients into an ambulance and drive them to the hospital. Now we do most of our interventions on the road and try to help or revive people as we go, because it can lead to a better outcome.
“In the past we would have brought patients to whatever the nearest hospital was. Now we diagnose on the road to determine what is the most suitable hospital to bring patients to. If it’s a brain injury we bring them to Cork, if its cardiac we bring them to the cath lab in Waterford. All these clinical decisions are made by the people on the road, and we have already started treatment in the ambulance before we even reach the hospital.
"We fight against nature every day, trying to bring people back to life, trying to save people, and its not reflected in the recognition we receive."
Workers on the picket line in Waterford are advising the public that cover is still available and to still call 999 if they encounter an emergency.
Mr. Madigan said: “We still have ambulances on the go and we don’t want the public to suffer. We want people to still ring 999 if they have an emergency.
“If we were told there was no ambulance available, any of the people here today would come off the gate and go out straight away. We want to go out and make sure the public are safe.”
