By EMS1 Staff
LONDON — A new report revealed that UK EMS providers took a collective 80,000 days off last year due to stress.
Huffington Post reported that a total of 2,468 EMS providers, which equals one in eight, missed shifts because of work-related stress.
“These disturbing figures once again prove what we already know – that our frontline ambulance workers are in the midst of a stress and anxiety epidemic,” GMB National Officer Kevin Brandstatter said. “They are consistently overworked, underpaid and expected to do incredibly difficult jobs – such as dealing with the aftermath of the Grenfell disaster or Manchester bombings – without adequate staff or resources.”
Brandstatter blames the government for the large amount of stress put on EMS providers and said that Prime Minister Theresa May is “burying her head in the sand.”
GMB is campaigning for paramedics to be given the opportunity to retire at the age of 60, which is currently the set age for firefighters and police officers.
“Forcing ambulance staff to work up to the age of 68 is another major cause of stress,” Brandstatter said. “There’s no justification for treating paramedics differently to comparable physically demanding frontline roles.”