AMBULANCE STRIKE IN YORKSHIRE

That this House notes that ambulance staff working in Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust have voted by a large majority to hold strike action and ban overtime; further notes that this industrial action follows a decision by the Trust to derecognise the ambulance staff union Unite; further notes that derecognition followed Unite raising concerns over patient safety in the wake of proposals by the Trust to save £46 million over five years; further notes that a key proposal to which the union objected was the introduction of emergency care assistants with just six weeks training to work alongside highly trained paramedics; believes that industrial action can only be avoided if the Trust retreats from the aggressive attitude it has taken towards the union and its members, who perform a fantastic service to the community day in and day out; and calls on the Trust to withdraw these proposals, recognise Unite again and enter into meaningful negotiations to ensure concerns over patient safety are properly addressed.