AMBULANCE trusts are at the sharp edge of a service that is under record pressure, GMB warned, after figures today revealed a “mass exodus” of workers.

A Liberal Democrat freedom of information request to all ambulance trusts showed the number of people leaving services rose by more than 50 per cent from 4,609 in 2019-20 to 6,968 in 2022-23.

GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “GMB has long warned recruitment and retention pressures in ambulance services are at a critical point. The stark fact is that patients’ lives are at risk. 

“Ambulance workers face extreme workloads, the risk of assaults, cuts to unsociable hours payments, and pressure to work into their late sixties — it’s no wonder that irreplaceable staff are leaving in droves.”

She added that an assessment of workforce pressures, which Labour and the Lib Dems have backed, must cover all ambulance staff.