UNISON SWAAHB - South Western Ambulance & Allied Health Branch

23/03/2026

🚨 NHS PAY – YOUR VOICE MATTERS 🚨

NHS staff continue to deliver for patients every single day — but fair pay and recognition still aren’t where they need to be.

Now is the time to stand together and make our voices heard.

✍️ Sign the letter today:
https://action.nhspay.org/page/187023/petition/1

This is a simple but powerful way to:
✅ Show support for NHS workers
✅ Push for fair pay and proper recognition
✅ Send a clear message to decision-makers

It only takes a minute — but the impact is much bigger.

💬 Every signature counts. Every voice matters.
📢 Please sign and share with colleagues, friends, and family.

14/03/2026

Who is UNISON?

UNISON isn’t an outside organisation.
UNISON is you.

We are paramedics, technicians, ECAs and EAAs responding to patients on the road.

We are CTMs and team leaders supporting crews and managing stations.

We are support services and admin staff keeping the service running behind the scenes.

We are EMDs, dispatchers and hub clinicians coordinating care and getting help where it’s needed most.

We are staff from every part of the ambulance service.

UNISON reps are volunteers. We do this alongside our day jobs because we believe in standing up for our colleagues.

We represent members, challenge decisions when needed, and campaign for improvements across the service.

When we speak up to the Trust, support a member in difficulty, or campaign for change — we do it together.

That’s the strength of a union. ✊That’s the strength of UNISON.

11/03/2026

🚨 ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – FROZEN ROLLING RELIEF MUST CHANGE 🚨

Rolling Relief balances were frozen in April 2025 and many members are still waiting for answers. Progress has been slow, communication poor, and members’ patience has run out.

SWAST have said they will only hear one collective grievance — so let’s make it as big and powerful as possible.

💪 Add your name to the collective grievance here:
🔗 https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=1Jr8HAsL0ECdxOdKjT0WUolg35BL93RJsCIUgiPlShhUOVRPR04wQThQQzJRTTI3VDRIMjA2VVVIVS4u&origin=lprLink&route=shorturl

✔ Sign the form
✔ Encourage your UNISON colleagues to join
✔ Non-members can join UNISON and be included

📢 Stand together. Be counted. Let’s make SWAST listen. ✊

11/03/2026

🎉🎉

🚨 BREAKING: Gloucestershire phlebotomists have ended their year-long strike.

Following talks with Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, staff have accepted a deal that will see their pay and roles reviewed by an independent job evaluation panel.

“After 349 days on strike, staff are relieved the trust has finally recognised the need to review pay."

08/03/2026

Happy International Women's Day to all the incredible women across our ambulance service. 💜🚑

Today we celebrate the strength, dedication, and leadership of women working across the South Western Ambulance Service — from frontline clinicians and control room staff to support roles, managers, and union activists. Every day, women play a vital role in caring for our communities and supporting colleagues.

At UNISON SWAAHB, we are proud of the many women who stand up for fairness, equality, and better workplaces for all.

Thank you for everything you do — today and every day. ✊

07/03/2026

🚨 FROZEN ROLLING RELIEF – MEMBER UPDATE 🚨

UNISON has received initial legal advice regarding validated hours.

👉 If you are invited to discuss or agree your hours, appeal and respond with:
"I am not agreeing to this proposal, pending legal advice from my union."

❗ Do NOT agree to any repayment proposal – this includes both positive and negative frozen hours.
Members are advised not to sign or accept anything until full legal advice is received (expected in at least two weeks).

✊ Join the collective grievance to challenge this process:
https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=1Jr8HAsL0ECdxOdKjT0WUolg35BL93RJsCIUgiPlShhUOVRPR04wQThQQzJRTTI3VDRIMjA2VVVIVS4u&route=shorturl

Stand together. Protect yourself. Protect your colleagues. 💜

02/03/2026

🔥 ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – FROZEN ROLLING RELIEF MUST CHANGE 🔥

For months, we’ve waited. Balances frozen in April 2025 still haven’t been resolved. SWAST promised action — but progress is slow, communication is poor, and patience has run out.

We are angry — rightly so. We’ve worked hard, followed the rules, and yet Rolling Relief has been mismanaged from the start. We deserve better. We deserve fairness. We deserve our RR balance corrected.

But there is hope. UNISON will not sit back and accept this. Together, we have power. Together, we can force change. SWAST may want to hear UNISON led grievances collectively — so let’s make this the BIGGEST collective grievance possible. Let them feel the full force of our voices.

💪 Here’s what you can do RIGHT NOW

Complete the attached form with your details to join the collective grievance.
Add your name — every single member strengthens the case.

Encourage UNISON member colleagues to join - the more of us, the harder it is for SWAST to ignore. If your colleagues are not already UNISON members they can join now and be included in the collective grievance. This is our moment.
Balances frozen for almost a year. Progress stalled. Enough is enough.

📢 Sign the form. Add your name. Take action. Together, we will make SWAST act.
Now is the time. Stand together. Be counted. Make change happen.

Many have sent an individual grievance to SWAST about this. And SWAST are still trying to discourage you from speaking up. SWAST are now saying they will only hear a single collective grievance. If they think this will make things quieten down, let's work together to prove them wrong.

16/02/2026

🚗 NHS Mileage Rates Update – Have Your Say 💬

At the start of 2026, NHS mileage rates dropped due to sustained falls in fuel prices at the pumps. However, we know that while fuel costs may have reduced, other motoring costs – including insurance, servicing, tyres and maintenance – have continued to rise, leaving many staff out of pocket when using their own vehicles for work.

UNISON has been campaigning for a fairer system that properly reflects the true cost of motoring. Following national negotiations, a new proposed mileage mechanism has been developed which would:

✅ Better reflect wider motoring cost inflation
✅ Increase the higher-rate threshold from 3,500 to 4,500 miles
✅ Introduce more regular reviews of rates
✅ Provide greater predictability and fairness for staff

UNISON branches are now being consulted on whether to support this proposal.

🗓 The consultation closes on Friday 27 February.

It’s really important we hear directly from members who rely on their own vehicles for work.

📩 Please share your views by contacting the branch so we can ensure your experiences shape the final decision.

Together, we can push for mileage rates that are fair and properly recognise the costs our members face. 💜

11/02/2026

📣 Update on the Senior Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) Role 📣

We’re pleased to share a further joint update from the Trust and UNISON on the implementation of the Senior EMD role, first outlined in the Bulletin on 15 January.

Work is continuing at pace on the implementation plan, and engagement with our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) colleagues will begin week commencing 2 March.

While co-located in Exeter, this engagement will give colleagues the opportunity to:

🔹 Hear more detail about the process, timeline and next steps
🔹 Ask questions and share views
🔹 Understand what this means for them and their teams

This development is more than just a new title — it’s a real investment in leadership within EOC. The changes include:

✅ Increased Team Leader capacity
✅ Introduction of Development Team Leader roles
✅ Stronger support for colleagues transitioning from training into live operations

Enhanced leadership means better day-to-day support, an improved experience at work, and ultimately a stronger service for our patients and the public.

A huge thank you to Robin Hughes and Emma Robinson, who continue to represent members and work closely with the Trust to ensure this implementation is fair, supportive and delivers real benefit for our EMD workforce.

We’ll continue to keep you updated as engagement progresses — watch this space 👀

09/02/2026

🌍 UNISON – Year of the Green 2026 🌍

As part of UNISON’s Year of the Green 2026, we want to hear directly from you.

Do you have ideas, suggestions, or solutions to help SWAST become more sustainable and move towards net zero? This could be anything from fleet and estates, waste reduction, energy use, uniforms, equipment, or day-to-day working practices.

💡 Your ideas matter.
UNISON can collate members’ suggestions and use them to push for meaningful change with the Trust.

📧 Please email your sustainability ideas to:
UNISON@swast.nhs.uk

Let’s work together to create positive, practical change for our environment, our service, and our future. 🌱
Every idea counts.

05/02/2026

👋 Hello everyone,

I’m Sophie, and I’m really pleased to be introducing myself as your new UNISON SWAAHB Young Members’ Officer. I work as a paramedic based at Almondsbury in BNSSG, and I’m really looking forward to representing and supporting young members across the branch.

Separately, there are a few areas I’m particularly passionate about within the union. These include protecting the mental health and wellbeing of colleagues, especially those working on the frontline and in EOC, and promoting fairness and equality in the workplace. I’m keen to support work that helps make our branch a place where people feel valued and supported, and enables our members to become more active within their union.

Outside of work and union life, I spend my free time watching true crime documentaries, following Bristol City (which is often more stressful — and sometimes scarier — than the true crime!), or snuggling with our dogs, Bruno and Tyson.

If you’re a young member, aged 30 or under, and have ideas, concerns, or would like to get more involved, I’d love to hear from you.

Sophie Giltinan
UNISON Young Members’ Officer

03/02/2026

📢 Need UNISON support or advice? Start with an email.

The best way to seek support, get advice, or be put in touch with a UNISON rep is by emailing UNISON@swast.nhs.uk
📧

Whether you have a concern, a query, or just need some advice, please send us an email and a member of the UNISON team will get back to you as soon as possible.

⚠️ Important: If you need support during a sickness absence or sickness stage, it’s vital to contact UNISON at the earliest opportunity. If we’re contacted too late in the process, it may limit the support we’re able to provide.

We’re here to help — just make sure you reach out early 💛