Ambulance service to cut 400 jobs

The trust acknowledged the timing of the letter was 'very difficult'

An ambulance service has warned hundreds of workers they face redundancy in a letter sent out just days before Christmas.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service told 400 management, administrative and support staff that changes were being made to deliver a more efficient service.

Formal notice of redundancy was served on those staff who do not secure jobs with the service by the end of March.

Unions have "utterly condemned" the "cruel" timing of the letter.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) was formed on 1 July, following the merger of the South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire Metropolitan, and the East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trusts.

This is an outrageous thing to do just five days before Christmas Unison spokeswoman

YAS acting chief executive Simon Worthington said the letter explained to staff the next steps in the trust's restructuring process.

He said: "To put in place a 'best in class' service in first-line and emergency care for people in Yorkshire and to meet the targets set by the government, YAS has to ensure it has the appropriate organisational and staff structure in place.

"To this end, it has reviewed all non-frontline services and will make a number of changes to deliver a more efficient service."

Mr Worthington said the trust was giving staff 90 days notice of redundancy, in line with national policy.

Staff support

"This makes the timing of this message to staff very difficult as it is so close to Christmas.

"We have been filling vacancies with fixed-term contracts and temporary staff, so we are hopeful that compulsory redundancies will be kept to a minimum."

He said the trust was committed to providing support to employees at risk of redundancy to secure employment before 31 March.

Neil Derrick, senior officer of the GMB said: "We utterly condemn the timing and the content of the directive today from the YAS which puts essential backroom staff at risk days before Christmas without any consultation or discussions with the trade unions.

"The staff who are at risk of redundancy include the control room staff, patient transport organisers, payroll staff, vehicle mechanics and other backroom staff who keep the service on the road."

A Unison spokeswoman said: "This is an outrageous thing to do just five days before Christmas. It is cruel to do this to staff and disgraceful that managers have not had the decency to talk to unions."