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| Ambulance staff hours cut in meal break row | Ambulance staff hours cut in meal break row |
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| Ambulance staff in Scotland will have their working week cut to resolve a long-running dispute over meal breaks, the government has announced. | Ambulance staff in Scotland will have their working week cut to resolve a long-running dispute over meal breaks, the government has announced. |
| The deal also means workers will have to attend emergency calls whenever they come up during their shifts. | The deal also means workers will have to attend emergency calls whenever they come up during their shifts. |
| Staff currently work a 40-hour week, including two-and-a-half hours of unpaid break time. | Staff currently work a 40-hour week, including two-and-a-half hours of unpaid break time. |
| Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said ambulance workers will move to a 37.5-hour working week, including rest time. | Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said ambulance workers will move to a 37.5-hour working week, including rest time. |
| The dispute flared up following the death of Mandy Mathieson, from Tomintoul, in Moray, after an ambulance technician stationed close to her home did not respond to a call as he was on a break. | |
| The deal between the Scottish government and the Unite, Unison and GMB unions was struck after previous offers to resolve the issue - based around extra payments to ambulance staff whose breaks were disrupted - were turned down. | |
| Ms Sturgeon told parliament the solution would protect patient safety and support Scottish Ambulance Service workers. | |
| And she said an extra 150 front line staff would be hired to maintain the service. | |
| As an interim measure, staff will be paid an extra £150 per month and will have to answer calls during breaks until the new working week comes into force. | |
| The health secretary said: "The agreement ensures that additional funding will be invested in the ambulance service, rather than in additional payments to existing ambulance staff. | |
| "No individual staff member will gain financially when required to attend an emergency call during a rest period. | |
| "I welcome a resolution that clearly demonstrates what I have always known and believed to be the case - that the priority of ambulance staff is their patients, not their personal gain." | |
| Ms Mathieson died in October 2010. | |
| An ambulance crew based 21 minutes away in Grantown-on-Spey responded to the call because the local ambulance technician was on a meal break. | |
| Ms Mathieson's relatives were shown a transcript of the call to her village ambulance station, which confirmed that while the ambulance technician knew about the incident, he was not formally asked to attend. | Ms Mathieson's relatives were shown a transcript of the call to her village ambulance station, which confirmed that while the ambulance technician knew about the incident, he was not formally asked to attend. |
| The health secretary said the new ambulance service jobs would come with extra investment of £5m a year to improve performance and increase the number of community paramedics in remote areas. | |
| Pat Rafferty, Scottish secretary of the Unite union, said: "Our members in the Scottish ambulance service have worked long and hard to ensure a satisfactory conclusion to this sensitive issue. | |
| "Today's developments are a step in the right direction and a reflection of their total dedication to this essential public service." |