1 December 2011 - 7am
To be attributed to Deputy Director of
Operations Jason Killens:
“We are now operating a normal service
following the severe pressure that we were under yesterday as a
result of the industrial action.
“Yesterday was a very difficult day, and we
are disappointed that the agreement we reached with the unions did
not provide the cover we expected. It is also disappointing that,
despite asking staff to return to work as normal or volunteer for
emergency cover during the afternoon when we had significant
numbers of patients waiting for ambulances and had declared an
internal major incident, few did so.
“We apologise again for the delays some of our
patients experienced while we focused on getting to our most
critically ill and injured patients as quickly as we could.
“Our staff who handled 999 calls in our
control room did an admirable job during the day, ensuring all
calls were answered so that they could be prioritised and resources
could be sent to those patients whose lives were in danger.
“We appreciate the help we were given from
partners, including the Metropolitan Police Service, other NHS
ambulance services, the voluntary and private ambulance services,
and local GPs.
“We will carry out a detailed review of the events of yesterday,
and we have already started discussions with the unions about
this.”
- Ends -
Notes to editors