North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) staff who train despatchers to respond to 999 calls began a fresh series of walkouts across the region last week, which continue until today (16 July), and follow 12 days of action by employees since March.

The trainers say the removal of the ‘premia' incentive payment means some staff are up to £3,000 out of pocket. 

Unison says workers lost the payment after changes were made to the training team without proper consultation with staff representatives, which is a potential breach of NHS rules.

The union is demanding full restoration of the bonus payment, and a review of recruitment and retention in the service.

Further strike dates will follow unless senior managers at NWAS begin negotiations to find an acceptable way of settling the dispute, Unison says.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham recently wrote to NHS England, urging managers to convene talks.

Unison North West regional organiser, James Bull, said: ‘Ambulance service bosses haven't put forward a reasonable offer, nor shown they're even willing to begin negotiations.

‘To add insult to injury, a significant number of the staff involved have applied for other roles during control room restructures, but have been told they can't be released from their current posts.

‘This is a perfect example of the ongoing chaos caused by staff turnover and problems filling specialist posts, which ambulance service bosses claim no longer exist.'

In response, a NWAS spokesperson, said: ‘The dispute relates to a restructuring of a small group of training staff.  The team restructuring significantly expanded the pool of people who could apply for the post, and as a result, an additional payment designed to attract and retain staff was no longer required. The changes were consulted with staff and trade unions and are in line with national terms and conditions.

‘Existing staff were protected, so they did not suffer a detriment, which means no staff had any pay removed. The newly appointed staff knew the posts no longer attracted a recruitment and retention premium when they applied for and accepted the positions.

‘The action has not affected our ability to respond to patients or the wider healthcare system or cover planned training sessions.'