AP

Don’t get drunk: UK govt urges caution amid ambulance strike

Dec 20, 2022, 12:24 PM | Updated: Dec 21, 2022, 7:13 am

Ambulance workers hold placards on a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ...

Ambulance workers hold placards on a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)


              Ambulance workers hold placards on a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              Ambulance workers pass a line of parked ambulances at a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              An ambulance is driven out past a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              Ambulance workers stand on a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              A view of ambulances parked outside the West Midlands Ambulance Service headquarters as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers in England and Wales took strike action, in Coventry, England, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
            
              A man walks past Waterloo ambulance station as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers in England and Wales take strike action in England and Wales, in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.  Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
            
              Badges are worn by an ambulance worker on a picket line in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              Ambulances are seen parked at an ambulance station in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              A dog walker passes a line of parked ambulances in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
            
              A view of ambulances parked outside the West Midlands Ambulance Service headquarters as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers in England and Wales took strike action, in Coventry, England, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
            
              A man walks past Waterloo ambulance station as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers in England and Wales take strike action in England and Wales, in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.  Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
            
              A view of ambulances parked outside the West Midlands Ambulance Service headquarters as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers in England and Wales took strike action, in Coventry, England, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (Jacob King/PA via AP)
            
              A man walks past Waterloo ambulance station as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers in England and Wales take strike action in England and Wales, in London, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.  Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain are staging a 24-hour strike, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk. The government is telling people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance on Wednesday. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
            
              Health Secretary Steve Barclay attends a visit to Norton Care Home in London. The British government said Tuesday it will not offer more money to nurses and ambulance crews to end strikes that are piling pressure on an already overstretched health system. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration is under pressure to increase its pay offer to health care staff who are seeking big raises in the face of decades-high inflation that was running at 10.7% in November. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
            
              Military personnel from the Household Division learn learn how to carry a patient down a flight of stairs as they take part in ambulance driver training at Wellington Barracks as they prepare to provide cover for ambulance workers on Dec. 21 and 28 when members of the Unison, GMB and Unite unions take industrial action over pay, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
            
              Military personnel from the Household Division receive training in an ambulance, at Wellington Barracks as they prepare to provide cover for ambulance workers on Dec. 21 and 28 when members of the Unison, GMB and Unite unions take industrial action over pay, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of ambulance workers in Britain began a one-day strike on Wednesday, with unions and the government swapping accusations of blame for putting lives at risk.

The government advised people not to play contact sports, take unnecessary car trips or get drunk in order to reduce their risk of needing an ambulance, as paramedics, call-handlers and technicians across England and Wales staged their biggest walkout in three decades.

Three ambulance unions were striking for either 12 or 24 hours. They have pledged to respond to life-threatening calls, but officials said they couldn’t guarantee everyone who needed an ambulance would get one.

“The system will be under very severe pressure today,” Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Sky News. “We’re saying to the public to exercise their common sense in terms of what activities they do, being mindful of those pressures that are on the system.”

Stephen Powis, national medical director of the National Health Service in England, advised people not to get “blind drunk.”

“It’s the season of parties, pre-Christmas, so do enjoy yourself but obviously don’t get so drunk that you end up with an unnecessary visit” to a hospital emergency room, he said.

Health care staff and other public sector workers are seeking big raises in the face of decades-high inflation that was running at 10.7% in November.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration argues that double-digit public sector raises would drive inflation even higher.

Union leaders accused the government of deliberately prolonging the strike.

“I have never seen such an abdication of leadership as I have from Rishi Sunak and the health secretary,” said Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite union that represents some ambulance staff.

Visiting a picket line in central England, she said “this government can make different choices. They can say that ‘actually we choose to invest in the people in the (health service).’ But they are looking at different choices, because they don’t want this to end. I think they want this crisis to be there.”

Nurses have also held two days of strikes this month, piling pressure on a health system that is already under strain from surging demand as pandemic restrictions ease, alongside staff shortages from burnout and Brexit, which has made it harder for Europeans to work in the U.K.

Official statistics show that ambulances in many areas are routinely stuck waiting outside hospital emergency departments, sometimes for hours, because there are no beds for the patients.

“A lot of the time, I’ll sign on to an ambulance and the first job of the day is to go down to the hospital, relieve the night or day crew, and then I will spend my whole shift outside the hospital,” said Harry Maskers, an emergency medical technician from Cardiff, Wales.

“I feel like unless I take action, this pattern will continue,” he said.

Ambulance crews are due to strike again on Dec. 28. Railway staff, passport officers and postal workers are also planning walkouts over the Christmas holiday season. The U.K.’s most intense strike wave for decades is a response to a cost-of-living crisis driven by soaring food and energy prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The government is calculating that public opinion will turn on the unions as people across the U.K. face postponed hospital appointments, canceled trains and travel delays during the winter holiday season. But opinion polls show a high level of support for the workers.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Image: A cargo ship is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after ...

Associated Press

Authorities identify 2 bodies recovered at site of Baltimore bridge collapse

A major bridge in Baltimore snapped and collapsed after a container ship rammed into it early Tuesday, and several vehicles fell into the river below.

24 hours ago

Photo: Mountaineer Jim Whittaker has died at 95....

Gene Johnson, The Associated Press

Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95

Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, has died at age 95.

1 day ago

File photo: Former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024....

Associated Press

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP pick in 2000, dead at 82

Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in 2000, has died.

1 day ago

islamic state attack...

Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press

What we know after the Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow massacre

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133 people.

4 days ago

Moscow shooting...

The Associated Press

Russia: 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Assailants burst into a concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100.

6 days ago

Photo: Britain's Kate, Duchess of Cambridge visits 282 (East Ham) Squadron, RAF Air Cadets, Cornwel...

Associated Press

Kate Middleton announces she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy

Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, says she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. She has been out of view since Christmas.

6 days ago

Don’t get drunk: UK govt urges caution amid ambulance strike