London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

NHS bosses warn latest ambulance strike will hit harder

NHS bosses warn latest ambulance strike will hit harder

Fears ‘even more precarious’ position of health service means Wednesday’s walkout will be more difficult to cope with

NHS bosses have warned the impact of Wednesday’s ambulance strike is likely to be worse than the one before Christmas.

Unison members at the London Ambulance Service are among the thousands of paramedics and support staff walking out across the UK, by staging a 12 hours strike from 11am on Wednesday in a dispute over pay.

NHS Providers has warned this strike, the second this winter, would be harder to cope with, with the NHS in an “even more precarious position.”

Their warning came after after the chief executive of the London Ambulance Service, Daniel Elkeles, earlier on Tuesday urged Londoners to only call 999 during the strike “if it is a life or limb-threatening emergency”.

Under trade union law, life-preserving care must continue. The most urgent calls will be attended to, while local agreements are in place between services and unions over other calls.

Miriam Deakin, NHS Providers’ director of policy and strategy, said it understood why “overworked” ambulance workers were striking, but that pressures on the NHS had already worsened since the last strike.

“Since the last strikes, delays transferring patients from ambulances to hospitals have gotten worse as pressure across the whole of the NHS increases,” she said.

“Trust leaders are working hard to minimise the impact on patients and to support staff during the industrial action but they are braced for another day of significant disruption and knock-on effects.”

The BBC reported highest-category calls, for immediately life-threatening emergencies such as cardiac arrests, will be covered during strikes, but not every emergency in the next category down, which includes heart attacks and strokes, will be provided for.

However London Ambulance Service has confirmed it aims to get to all heart attacks and strokes.

Government sources involved in contingency planning said the lack of agreement over emergency calls was a concern.

But union leaders said detailed plans were in place to ensure lives were not put at risk, including exemptions for some union members expected to work during the walkout. Services will also bring in other NHS staff, alongside the military, to provide support.

NHS Providers called for “serious pay negotiations” between the Government and unions to avert further strikes.

Talks between Health Secretary Steve Barclay and health unions over strike action broke down on Monday.

Speaking earlier Tuesday, the LAS’ Daniel Elkeles urged Londoners: “Please keep 999 for when a life is at risk as this will help your fellow Londoners in their time of need.”

He stressed that during the previous strike day in December, call volumes to LAS 999 and 111 control centres dropped by a third, allowing ambulances to be sent to “our sickest patients”.

He said: “There will be fewer ambulances on the road and fewer staff in our control rooms answering and assessing 999 calls.

“This means some people will have longer waits and some people won’t get an ambulance at all.”

Some people may be advised to arrange “alternative transport” to hospital.

During the last paramedics strike on December 21, around 200 ambulances were on the road in London, compared with the normal 400 with 50 response vehicles.

A similar level of cover is expected tomorrow when 999 call handlers will also join the industrial action.

While the strike will last for 12 hours, LAS expects the impact on services to be felt into the following days.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Health Secretary Steve Barclay urged people with health concerns to call NHS 111 if needed ahead of ambulance strikes.

Speaking during a visit to St Charles Hospital in west London, he said: “Of course if people have an urgent call issue, it is important that they call 111. If they have an emergency then of course 999.

“But there will be pressure on the system tomorrow. So it’s important that people are bearing that in mind in terms of calling 111 if it’s an urgent matter.”


Unison members of the LAS will walk out for 12 hours from 11am on Wednesday

However, ministers and unions could be inching towards a deal to end the nurses and paramedics’ strikes.

Mr Barclay is exploring with Cabinet colleagues ideas raised by unions on Monday including a one-off payment or back-dating a 2023/24 pay rise to the start of this calendar year.

At the same time, Business Secretary Grant Shapps on Tuesday published the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill.

It would force the unions to provide a minimum level of service during strikes, and will initially apply to the rail network, paramedics and fire service.

It could be extended to cover other workforces including teachers, bus drivers and nurses.

Ministers are braced for a parliamentary battle, which could last six months, to get the controversial legislation through the Lords.

The Government is also expecting to fight unions in court over the anti-strike laws.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps defended the proposed laws which he stressed would ensure “life and limb must come first” during walk-outs on Tuesday.

The Business Secretary told Times Radio: “I don’t think any civilised society should have a situation where we can’t get agreement to, for example, have an ambulance turn up on a strike day for the most serious of all types of ailments.”

He added: “Everyone knows we want to bring these strikes, which in some cases, railways for example, seem to have turned into sort of forever strikes.”

He insisted that minimum service requirements would not result in NHS staff being sacked.

But Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said: “This represents one of the most shameful attacks on the democratic rights and liberties of working people in decades.”

Labour has vowed to repeal the anti-strike laws if it wins power.

Mr Barclay suggested to health unions on Monday that improvements in NHS efficiency and productivity could “unlock additional funding” for pay rises in 2023/24.

Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, said there had been an “acknowledgement” from the Health Secretary during the talks that avoiding strikes over next year’s pay settlement would “involve a reach-back” into the current pay year.

It raises the prospect that the pay deal for 2023/24, which is due to be agreed in time for April, could be backdated and applied to the final quarter of the 2022/23 financial year.

Ms Gorton said the discussion on pay represented a “tone change” from the Government.

Nurses are also due to stage industrial action on January 18 and 19 in hospitals across the country, including six London NHS employers, and junior doctors are being balloted on a 72-hour strike in March.

It comes as London hospitals are experiencing their worst ever winter crisis amid a surge in flu and record waits for treatment in A&E.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
×