LINCOLNSHIRE FIREFIGHTERS START DISPUTE PROCESS AFTER ATTEMPTS TO FORCE THEM TO PROVIDE AN AMBULANCE SERVICE

Grantham firefighters have rejected an order to provide an ambulance service by 1 December or face disciplinary action and loss of pay. The union has lodged a formal dispute over the issue of new duties being imposed without agreement.

The fire authority has been given seven days notice to withdraw the threats or the union will start to ballot all Lincolnshire firefighters for industrial action. The Fire Brigades Union says it has major concerns over being asked to provide an ambulance service and is angered at the bullyboy tactics of Lincolnshire Fire Authority.

The union says the fire authority made no attempt to consult or negotiate the change as it is required to do. Instead it tried to impose the change by writing what the union considers is an intimidating and threatening letter to 40 firefighters at Grantham station.

Lincolnshire FBU Brigade Secretary Barry Foster said:

“They could have raised this by consulting firefighters and starting talks as they are required to do under our agreements with them. Instead they have sought to impose change by threats and intimidation, and that is not acceptable.

“No one wants a dispute but if the managers refuse to consult or talk then we have no option. We have given them time to reflect on their needlessly intimidating tactics and we hope they have a change of heart.

“What they want makes as much sense as ordering us to provide police services or social services. With up to ten stations unavailable through low crewing every day there can be an acute shortage of firefighters in Lincolnshire and we are struggling to cope with record numbers of fire service calls.

“The public are at risk when we are tied up answering thousands of ambulance calls and not providing a fire service. Firefighters are at risk if we are attending incidents short-handed.

“On Monday morning one Grantham fire engine from the two based there, was sent to an ambulance call. We were left short-handed when the only remaining engine was sent to a road traffic accident at Alma Park.

“We had to get another engine from Corby Glen, 12 miles away to help. At the same time Brant Broughton station did not have enough firefighters to be operational.

“The result was a significant part of Lincolnshire did not have a fire service. On another day that may have been catastrophic.

“We are being ordered to provide a third rate ambulance service at the expense of a fire service. Half the firefighters do not have up to date first aid certificates and we’re being given 10 hours training before being sent to medical emergencies.

“This sort of problem is inevitable when managers refuse to consult and negotiate, resorting instead to bullyboy tactics. The dispute is about those tactics and the need for discussion and agreement before new duties are introduced.

“If the ambulance service cannot respond to 999 calls then that must be addressed by the National Health Service. We have genuine professional concerns about public safety, they are being ignored but we will not be bullied into change before these concerns are addressed.

“The ambulance service must explain why it cannot ensure a speedy response when the public call them. If it cannot perform the basics of what it is set up to do then that needs to be dealt with.”

***Ends***

Media contacts:

Barry Foster 07760 176769

National media: Duncan Milligan 07736 818100

MEDIA BRIEFING NOTE

Every day 10 Lincolnshire fire stations are not operational because of a severe shortage of firefighters, especially a shortage of on-call retained firefighters.

In 2003 Lincolnshire Fire Authority responded to 946 ambulance calls at a cost of £302,720.
These are not heart attacks as claimed but range from cut fingers, asthma attacks, infant convulsions and people collapsed in the street, sometimes because of too much alcohol.

At that time 14 fire stations were operating an ambulance service. One station was doing more that 200 ambulance calls year.

In 2004 there were 16 stations doing ambulance calls and this increased to 20 stations which in the first six months of this year had responded to 1,196 ambulance calls at a cost of £382,720.

Based on those figures the union estimates the fire service will attend 2,392 ambulance calls in 2004 at an annual cost of £765,440. The costs are based on the brigade’s special service charge of £320 an hour. The fire authority’s annual budget is only £18.2 million.

FIDDLED NHS TARGETS

The fire service is being used to give the impression that NHS targets for ambulance response times are being hit. As soon as a fire engine arrives at a medical emergency that counts as the ambulance service arriving and the NHS target is considered to have been met (even if an ambulance does not arrive for another 30 minutes).

HEART ATTACKS

We have appointed our own independent experts to examine the best way rural communities can deal with heart attacks. These experts will advise on how the issue can be dealt with properly and what role the fire service may play in reducing the number of deaths from heart attacks.