THE military will today begin helping to tackle a Covid-related staffing crisis at the ambulance service - days after the service temporarily suspended the non-emergency transportation of patients to York Hospital.

Forty military personnel will start training today to work alongside Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) staff in transferring patients between hospitals, transporting others discharged from hospital and assisting the non-emergency patient transport service.

They will be trained in driving ambulances, manual handling, kit familiarisation and basic life support and will begin working within two weeks.

The service has been battling to cope with worsening staff shortages exacerbated by the highly transmissible Covid Omicron variant.

Nick Smith, executive director of operations, says patients who would normally be taken by ambulance to general outpatient appointments are being contacted and advised to ‘make other arrangements'.

York Press: Lt Corydon Morrell, pictured at a NHS South Central Ambulance Station in Berkshire, where the military are already helping during staffing shortages - similar aid arrives today for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service

He said that while it had temporarily suspended some non-emergency patient transport service journeys to general outpatient appointments, it would continue to convey patients for life-saving treatment such as renal dialysis or chemotherapy and treatment for Covid-19, and for those being discharged or admitted to hospital or transferred between hospital sites.

“We are contacting patients affected to ask them to make other arrangements and advising any patients who have any concerns about their transport to contact our reservations team,” he said.

Mr Smith said that, like all other ambulance services across the country, the YAS was experiencing operational pressures exacerbated by Covid-related absence.

“Our dedicated staff are doing their best to respond as quickly as possible to all 999 calls, but we acknowledge that some patients are having to wait longer for an ambulance response,” he said.

“As part of our resilience planning, we have always had the option of making a request to the military for help and we have now asked for that assistance.

“We will be able to use military personnel to work alongside our staff, enabling us to support patients and get people the treatment they need sooner.

“This, in turn, will free up our staff to attend to serious and life-threatening cases.”

York Press: The military is already helping NHS South Central Ambulance Station in Berkshire

He said this would enable paramedics to accompany patients, whose condition was not deemed to be serious, in the back of vehicles while being driven to or from hospitals.

“We would like to reassure our patients and the public that, in spite of the challenges currently faced, our emergency service remains fully operational and anyone who needs our assistance for life-threatening of serious emergencies should continue to call 999,” he said.

He said efforts must be focussed on the most poorly patients and the public was therefore being asked to consider other options for less serious illnesses or injuries, including self-care, local pharmacy, GP surgery, urgent care centre or making their own way to the emergency department.