East of England Ambulance Service blasted by union after 28 vehicles found without passenger airbags
A union has criticised East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) after 28 new ambulances were found not to have airbags on the passenger side.
GMB Union claims 21 of these ambulances are currently on the frontline but will be pulled from use.
A spokesperson for EEAST said: “We have identified that a small proportion of our fleet do not have passenger airbags installed. Whilst these vehicles are roadworthy and legal, we are attempting to limit the use of these affected vehicles until a permanent solution can be found.
“Our fleet team are working hard to resolve this issue and to ensure that we have enough fleet availability to support our patients.
“Safety measures for staff that need to travel as passengers in the vehicles are in place.”
The union is working with the Trust to make changes to make sure the vehicles will stay in service.
Donna Thomas, GMB regional organiser, said: “This is yet another expensive and dangerous mistake from EEAST, which put ambulance staff safety at risk.
“We are calling for the Trust to take accountability for the repeated mistakes made when purchasing vehicles.
“It is important to remember this is public money and could be spent on more public-facing staff to cut the unacceptable response times in the East of England.
“GMB is pleased that the Trust is working with us to rectify the error and keep these ambulances in service, where possible.”