North West 999 crews hit by sickness (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Cutting the number of crews might have something to do with the sickness levels.

so could lack of childcare for over 5s not everyone has family and childminders want children all year not odd weeks, plus the cost if you can find anyone as they have to be registered now

quote "NWAS director of organ-isational development, Margo Kane, said: “Traditionally ambulance services in England have always had a higher sickness level than other NHS trusts due to the nature of the work frontline staff do". unquote
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I wasn't aware the NWAS covered all of England, nor that they do a different frontline job than that of other NHS trust areas?
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what absoulute pollytwaddle, and to be honest, the above excuse isn't really an excuse but an attempt to avoid the real issue of A&E closures and the need for more ambulances & staff to take patients further distances. Not to mention the increases in turnaround times.
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the stress for paramedics is immense. only 3 months ago 700 people needing urgent hospital treatment were forced to wait with ambulance staff in the back of the vehicle because doctors and nurses in A&E were unable to take them.
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Over at Blackburn hospital, after the closure of the Burnley A&E, ambulances were turned away and told to go to other hospitals in lancashire. The NWAS staff said over 12 ambulances were waiting to offload patients and queued for hours only to be refused admittance and to go elsewhere.
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Only 2 weeks ago, an ambulance took almost five hours to become available for its next call-out after arriving at PCH (in wales). And at some hospitals, almost one in five ambulances took more than an hour to be cleared to respond to a new incident.
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Here's the gen from the NWAS latest trust report (May 2012)...
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"hospital turnaround times have failed to improve and with increasing activity ambulances have been tied up at hospital A&E departments particularly at times of high activity and surges in activity".
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of course, this increase in activity was anticipated prior to the closure of Burnley's A&E department (transferred to blackburn in 2007). So what we are reaping now are only what the NWAS (or more to the point the East Lancs hospital trust) failed to acknowledge in the early stages of these transfers of local hospital acute services to other areas.
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It's very easy for NWAS managers to claim some of the absenses are due to paramedics dealing with traumatic incidents. In reality, the real trauma is how management have underestimated the workload paramedics have to endure due to increased turnaround times related to closures of local emergency services.

Good post, Pendlesider.

Totally agree pendlesider, but you failto mention how paramedics are often working 1 hr plus after their (12hr) shifts. They often don't get their meal breaks as they are waiting for prolonged periods at A&E for a bed, their lucky to make it to the roundabout before getting another job. If only they had the power to say no to inappropriate patients & be fully supported by the powers that be to do this. As someone who works closely with these amazing people & they are amazing delivering emergency care eg CPR from colne/clitheroe/bacu
p, trust me that takes staminer & strength! It's a shame they don't get the respect or support they deserve.