Scottish Labour has called on the Health Secretary to make an emergency statement to the Scottish Parliament after talks between the Scottish Ambulance Service and trade unions over how they manage rest breaks that are interrupted by emergency calls failed to reach a conclusion today. 
 
It follows a overwhelming rejection of the deal offered by the Scottish Ambulance Service by a substantial majority of members in all of the three trade unions involved.
 
The Party is concerned that the interim arrangements put in place by the SNP government – which mean ambulance workers are interrupted only if the call is placed in the highest level of emergency – could be compromising patient safety.
      
Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Jackie Baillie MSP, said:
 
“The top priority has to be patient safety and providing round the clock cover, but it is only fair that the ambulance workers we rely on in our hour of need receive a fair deal for the hours they work.
  
“The feedback I have been getting from ambulance workers is that the new system imposed upon them last year is seeing emergency calls being downgraded which could compromise patient safety. We cannot afford a situation where patients’ lives are being put at risk because the SNP government has failed to strike a fair deal.
 
“On an issue as important as this, parliament must be informed of progress. Nicola Sturgeon needs to show some real leadership on this issue by getting everyone round the table to work this out.”