Third of ambulance workers have contracted coronavirus

A new poll by GMB Union has revealed that more than one in three ambulance workers has had coronavirus.

In the survey of more than 1,600 ambulance workers across the country, 37 per cent of them have had coronavirus – with a massive 84 per cent of them saying they caught it while on the job. Of that figure, nearly a third of ambulance workers who had coronavirus said their symptoms were ‘really bad’ or ‘required medical attention’.

The union is calling on the government and Public Health England to urgently review PPE guidance for health workers.

According to GMB, ambulance workers report having to attend patients with flimsy gowns instead of proper PPE, nurses in hospitals working amongst Covid-19 patients say they are given only the most basic of surgical masks, while hospital trusts are not isolating and testing patients efficiently.

The union says that across the whole NHS, 30 per cent said they had caught coronavirus with almost 60 per cent saying they passed it to a family member.

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said: “Our health workers are dropping like flies – yet the Government and Public Health England still won't give them proper, FFP (Filtering Face Piece) level 3 protection.

“We're a year into the pandemic - this is a disgrace. Our paramedics, technicians and practitioners are expected to treat suspected coronavirus patients with nothing but a flimsy mask and a plastic apron. GMB has called for guidance to be reviewed since the start of the pandemic and unless ministers sit up and take notice, our health service will be overwhelmed.”