A member of staff who works for East Midlands Ambulance Service claims that 'money is being put before patient care' in order to hit budgets.

The staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims that levels of patient care are being impacted because the service is looking to save money during staff meal breaks.

She says if staff are called out during their break and then stood down after it ends, they receive £15 from the service.

However, they say if they have their break without interruption, they don't get a pay-out.

An EMAS ambulance

According to this staff member, even if staff are willing to go out before their break has finished due to stacking calls, they are not allowed due to policy.

And this results in patients having to wait longer to receive the care that they need, she claims.

The staff member said: "The only type of job we get in our meal break window is a category 1. They will open the channel so everyone logged on will hear the call and staff will respond if they are free and not on a job.

"So if we respond and say we will take that job they will allocate it to us and we will start running to the job but then we get an update saying the call is now a Cat 2 - they will then stand us down off the job and send us back for a break.

"When we are stood down from a job and we see the description we say to control we are happy to continue but they say no, policy is you have to go for your break.

"So you are left feeling the control room is putting money before patient care.

"Being a mother, it is hard to see this happen."

However, officials at EMAS claim that this is not about budgets at all and is actually more about looking after the welfare and needs of their staff.

Ben Holdaway, EMAS Director of Operations said: "This isn't about budgets, it's about the big challenge we and our commissioners have to ensure that patients get the immediate emergency care they require, while staff also get the breaks they need.

"Tired staff are more likely to make mistakes, and it's important that ambulance clinicians get these breaks during their eight to 12-hour shift to ensure they keep themselves nourished and hydrated so that they can provide a safe service to the public.

The emergency response to a very ill one-day-old baby has been called into question

“We always prioritise the nearest available ambulance resource to an immediately life-threatened patient. However, with demand for ambulance services continuing to grow, there are inevitably occasions where demand outstrips available ambulances, which is the main issue managers and commissioners are working hard to try and overcome (see notes to editor for more detail).

“That said, ambulance staff, by the nature of their job, are caring people who are committed to providing excellent care, and most crews will voluntarily stop their break to get to immediately life-threatened patients quickly.

“My latest staff engagement tour of ambulance stations across our region has recently concluded, and I’ve heard feedback from some crews about meal breaks and flexibility in approach.

"As a result, we are reviewing if we can make a minor change to the Meal Break Policy to include another category of patient (most serious) within the meal break window to allow more crews to respond if their help is needed. For obvious safety reasons, this will be reviewed by our governance, clinical and quality leads as well as trade union colleagues.”

In May, EMAS and Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group agreed new contract terms which will see an extra £9 million invested in EMAS this year.

This means extra clinical staff, ambulances and resources will be provided this year.

There is also the potential for additional funding to rise to approximately £19 million next year.