• Four fresh ambulance crew stoppages have been announced by the GMB.
• One of them falls on the same day as a nurses’ strike.
• Ambulance staff and nurses are striking for first time in England and Wales this week.

The largest NHS walkout in this conflict will occur on February 6 in England and Wales when ambulance personnel join nurses in going on strike.

Four fresh ambulance crew stoppages were announced by the GMB, one of which falls on the same day as a nurses’ strike.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the ambulance staff are acting simultaneously for the first time.

This week’s two days of strikes by RCN members on Wednesday and Thursday coincide with it.

GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “Ambulance workers are angry. In their own words ‘they are done’.

“Our message to the government is clear – talk pay now.”

On February 6 and 20, as well as March 6 and 20, employees from seven of the ten English ambulance services as well as the national Welsh service will stage walkouts.

These employees include paramedics, call handlers, and support staff.

The RCN said on Monday that its largest strike to date, affecting more than a third of services in England and all but one health board in Wales, would take place on February 6 and 7.

Both unions will be required to offer emergency coverage under trade union laws.

However, it raises the possibility that emergency 999 calls for falls won’t be attended to and that a significant portion of pre-planned hospital care, such hernia repairs, hip replacements, or outpatient clinics, won’t be carried out.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen underlined the appeal for the parties to sit down and negotiate as her members left on Wednesday for the third time this winter.

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