Devastating strikes by ambulances have been called off tonight in a massive breakthrough that could end a winter of chaos for Britons.
The unions behind the months-long NHS strikes have now agreed to talk to Health Secretary Steve Barclay about wages.
The “massive delay” comes after 999 crew dramatically vowed to escalate the strikes by refusing to respond to some victims of heart attacks and strokes.
Up to 45,000 paramedics were due to return to the pursuit in England next week amid the pay dispute.
GMB, one of the unions orchestrating the unprecedented industrial action, said ministers had agreed to discuss wages for both this and next financial year in a sign NHS staff are being given a retroactive pay rise to avoid further chaos .
Unions have been assured that any increase in cash – which could cost billions – will not have to be earmarked from existing healthcare budgets.
Steve Barclay has agreed to meet with paramedics and physiotherapist representatives if they cancel a planned union action
NHS ambulance union GMB has suspended planned strike action for next week after the government agreed to open pay negotiations
This contradicts No10’s claim that the 4 per cent increase already granted to staff was all the country could afford.
GMB strikes in Wales, which were also due to take place on Monday, have also been suspended pending further talks with the government there.
Further talks with unions, who are demanding pay rises to tackle inflation, and the Department of Health and Social Care will be held early next week.
GMB National Secretary Rachel Harrison said: “GMB Ambulance Workers have announced a tightening of strike day exemptions.
“Less than 24 hours later we received a letter from Steve Barclay, health secretary, inviting us and other unions to hold talks.
“This is a major shift from the government, which has refused to consider salary negotiations for months.”
She added that the government had also made certain commitments to the talks.
“The government has secured additional money on top of existing budgets for both years and any agreement will respect the existing structure of the agenda for change,” she said.
“GMB ambulance workers have agreed to suspend union action to allow talks to begin – but the strike will return with a vengeance if talks fail.”
Unison’s head of health, Sara Gorton, said: “Unions have said all along that they could call off strike action if ministers only committed to formal talks to increase wages for this year.
“The government has finally committed to additional investment in wages both this year and next.”
However, she criticized ministers for taking so long to come to the table and highlighted how strike action this winter had seriously disrupted patient care.
“The sad thing is that it could all have been handled so differently. “Proper wage negotiations should have started months ago, long before the first strike was announced,” she said.
“This would have avoided days of disruption for the NHS and its patients.”
Almost 140,000 operations and appointments have been canceled this winter due to NHS strikes. That number includes the largest-ever strike to disrupt ailing health services on February 6, involving tens of thousands of nurses and paramedics.
The coming days will show whether the talks are the beginning of the end of the current dispute. If an agreement can be reached, strikes can be ended and everyone can work together again to ensure the NHS gets back on track.”
However, she warned that the union would return to the battleground if talks collapsed.
It comes after a similar offer from the government to open pay talks between the nurses’ union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), led to the suspension of strikes that were due to take place this week.
This offer sparked anger from other NHS staff unions, including GMB, with some ministers accusing them of playing ‘divide and conquer’ tactics by only inviting the RCN to hold discussions.
That call prompted GMB to say paramedics would definitely do it Respond immediately to “category one” life-threatening calls when a person’s heart has stopped or they are not breathing.
This now-suspended escalation of strikes will result in some “category two” callers, such as people with heart attacks, strokes and severe burns, being told to go to hospital themselves.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
