Ambulance staff across Somerset have called for their boss to quit as they “struggle to maintain a crumbling service.”
GMB union members from South West Ambulance Service (SWASFT) have written a letter “apologising” to the public for “potentially putting them at risk.”
They have told Chief Executive Ken Wenman that government cuts have led to “despair and frustration” among staff.
Mr Wenman said SWASFT was working to “improve resource levels” and “urged” GMB to “re-engage and talk to us”.
He has not commented publicly on the call for him to resign. The open letter was addressed as an “apology to our families, friends and the community”.
To the public, they said they were “sorry for not getting to you or your loved ones quick enough because there are just not enough of us”.
They also apologised to family and friends for times when they missed “yet another family occasion”.
They also wrote that they felt “unsupported” by their employer SWASFT.
Gary Palmer, from the GMB, said: “We felt this recent letter on behalf of a group of GMB members particularly summoned up the general despair and frustration many staff currently feel from working within a service and role they love.”
Tony Fox, from SWASFT, said: “We accept that there is always more to be done and we will continue to work closely with our colleagues and listen and respond to their needs.”
The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust covers Cornwall, Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Burnham-On-Sea’s ambulance service provision – with one ambulance and one rapid response car – is now at its lowest level for over 15 years, as we first reported here earlier this year.
