Ambulance bosses have defended claims that patients lives’ are being put at risk because of overstretched staff.

According to a paramedic working in Hull for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, staff are stretched to the limit, often working 12 hour shifts and sometimes up to 13 or 14 hours, without a meal break.

He claimed over Christmas 26 shifts hadn’t been covered because of sickness and crews were being delayed for up to an hour at the hospital because of a lack of beds.

Unison regional organiser Ray Gray said there were close to 100 vacancies going unfilled in Yorkshire: “Some of it is cost efficiencies and when they get a vacancy it takes nearly a year to get a qualified paramedic up and trained.

“For health and safety reasons unions have never agreed with a 12-hour shift, if they get a call at the end of the shift to the far end of the patch that could be another half an hour.

via Yorkshire Post.