THE Welsh ambulance service is being reballoted for further strike action as it faces a £15 million cut next year.

Ambulance workers in Wales told Unison Cymru that morale is at an all-time low.

The union’s reballot of its ambulance members for strike action over pay and conditions closes on February 16.

Unison Wales head of health Hugh McDyer said: “Industrial action is always a last resort but ambulance workers in Wales and across Britain are being left with no other choice.” 

The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) has been told it could be facing £15m worth of cuts next year after receiving its draft budget.

Ambulance staff told their union that they are overworked with some forced to make “soul-destroying” calls to tell patients an ambulance will not be available. 

Ambulance worker Carol Roberts provides telephone triage and has to phone patients back, including those with stroke symptoms, or the elderly who have fallen.

“To tell them we aren’t sending an ambulance is utterly soul-destroying,” she said.

“Crews are, on occasion, outside emergency departments looking after patients for more than 12 hours. They didn’t join the service to do this. 

“This is having a detrimental effect on their mental health, with many leaving or taking early retirement.” 

Gerynt Page, who has worked for the Welsh service for 45 years, said: “All grades of staff are experiencing burnout due to increasing service demands and a lack of hospital beds.”

The ambulance service confirmed the current £15m hole in next year’s finances but said negotiations were ongoing to reduce the potential deficit.

The Welsh government blamed Westminster for providing an “inadequate settlement.”

A Welsh government statement said: “Our budget is worth £3 billion less in real terms than it was when it was originally set.”