Yorkshire ambulance services are to be hit by strike action by their biggest union Unison, it was revealed yesterday.

A four-hour stoppage is to be staged by 1,500 Yorkshire ambulance workers on Monday October 14, the union announced.

The action is over the imposition of changes to working practices including the introduction of 12-hour shifts, no guaranteed meal breaks and changes which the union argues threaten the health and safety of patients and staff.

The minority union at the service, Unite, with about 380 members, has already been staging strike action over the changes.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust derecognised Unite after it publicly protested against the changes, which includes the replacement of highly skilled paramedics by ambulance assistants. The assistants received just a few weeks’ training compared to the degree-level skills of the paramedics

The four-hour Unison strike from 7 to 11 on October 13 will be followed by four days of industrial action short of a strike.