Reflections on a sad day. The NHS ambulance strikes with Carl Betts

In this episode we are examining the recent strikes and pay freeze that frontline paramedics have been experiencing. This is on the background of increased cost of living and operational pressures across the emergency care system. We will focus both on Carl’s recent reflections of the issue and also the sense of community within the current strikes. We will also examine how this strike is different to others and indeed how the climate of the NHS is vastly different to that ever seen before. Carl Betts is no stranger to the World Extreme Medicine Podcast and has featured on previous episodes around critical analysis & critical mental health and reflecting on practice at the frontline. He has been a paramedic for over 10 years and currently working in Quality Improvement. He has also written a recent blog on his reflections of the strike action, the sense of unity and the multi-factorial climate of pressures that paramedics work in within the UK. You can read Carl's reflections here