1,200 military cover for ambulances and Border Force

• 1,200 military personnel and 1,000 civilian employees will be called into service.
• They will cover for the Border Force and ambulance workers on strike.
• Welsh military won’t operate ambulances, says government.

Over Christmas, 1,200 military personnel and 1,000 civilian employees will be called into service to cover for the Border Force and ambulance workers on strike.

According to the administration, the staff will fill in staffing gaps and maintain front-line services.

In a pay dispute, 10,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales will walk out on December 21 and 28.

According to unions, military personnel are not “sufficiently trained” to perform ambulance duties.

However, patient safety is Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s “number one priority.”

He emphasized that the military is ordered by the government to “serve the nation,” but he declined to talk on “political issues.”

When it comes to covering striking action, the commander of the armed forces has cautioned against seeing troops as “the go-to” option.

Speaking to the Media, Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said: “We’re not spare capacity. We’re busy and we’re doing lots of things on behalf of the nation – we’ve got to focus on our primary role.”.

The military won’t be requested to operate ambulances in Wales, according to the Welsh government.

The three major ambulance unions, Unison, GMB, and Unite, coordinated the strike.

On December 21, all three are going to do something. On December 28, GMB union members will strike once more.

Following action on December 15, members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are scheduled to strike again on December 20 in several areas of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The nursing union has stated that it will give ministers 48 hours after the strike ends to agree to talk about salary; else, more significant action will be announced for the following year.

The administration claimed that independent pay review organizations, which had recommended pay increases of about 4.75%, will decide on pay increases for nurses and ambulance drivers.

Unions claim that this is an unacceptable real terms pay decrease given the high rate of inflation (over 10%) and the fact that many people are struggling to keep up with rising living expenses.

Oliver Dowden, a cabinet minister, reiterated that a 19% raise for nurses was “simply not affordable” and that the government was “resolute” in its position.

He told Media: “We are trying to be rational, we are trying to be proportionate, and we are trying to be fair.” He then pleaded with the unions to end the strikes.

Along with other sectors, rail workers, Royal Mail employees, and others have recently engaged in industrial action over pay conflicts due to the rising cost of living.

A new “resilience framework,” to be released on Monday by the government, is intended to enhance how the UK anticipates and responds to pressing problems like strikes.

The framework will “bring together all levels of government, critical national infrastructure operators, the private sector, charities and the public to bolster our national preparedness to these risks”, the Cabinet Office said.

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