AN OVERWHELMING majority of ambulance workers are suffering stress due to the increasing demands of the job and government cuts, health union Unison warned yesterday.

Long hours and staff shortages are stretching paramedics to the limit, research conducted by the union found.

A poll of nearly 3,000 workers found that almost three-quarters are suffering from sleep problems, 72 per cent said they feel irritable as a result and experienced mood swings, and more than half are gripped with anxiety.

Unison said it is concerned that employers are not fulfilling their duty of care as more than half of the respondents said they were unaware of any steps being taken by management to remove or reduce stress.

The union’s head of health Christina McAnea said: “Working in emergency services is stressful but the pressure on ambulance staff is reaching dangerously high levels.

“It is unacceptable that the current system doesn’t allow for proper breaks between shifts.

“Workers have told us they often work 14-hour shifts without a decent break.

“Higher callout rates and lengthy waits outside A&E departments are adding to the problem. It is clear that the pressure caused by government funding cuts is having a huge impact on staff and on patient safety.”

TUC leader Frances O’Grady said that stress remains “the top concern” for health and safety workplace reps.

“It’s a particular problem in parts of the public sector like the NHS and local government that have been hit by cuts and top-down reorganisation,” she said.

“Sickness and absence caused by stress is one of the false economies of public-sector austerity.”