Ambulance service underpaid paramedic - tribunal

The employment tribunal ordered NWAS to pay £6,000 to the paramedic

An ambulance trust has been ordered to give £6,000 to a paramedic, after an employment tribunal ruled he had been underpaid.

Daniel Brackenbury worked as a paramedic for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) in Distington, near Workington, Cumbria.

The tribunal heard Mr Brackenbury had been told his pay would increase after three months of temporarily taking on a more senior role, but a manager had later revoked the decision.

An NWAS spokesperson said they accepted the tribunal's findings.

Documents from the tribunal showed Mr Brackenbury had worked for NWAS since July 2019.

In January 2023, he started a "developmental post" as a senior paramedic team leader (SPTL), which was due to last three months, but subsequently extended.

'Contravention'

The tribunal heard the agreement was Mr Brackenbury would continue to work in his regular job with his usual pay - a band-six role - but he would regularly receive training and be asked to provide intermittent cover for the SPTL role, which was a pay band above his current role.

Tribunal judge Jane Callan heard that it later became known that some other paramedics who had taken on a developmental role similar to Mr Brackenbury's were told they would be moved to the higher band wage after three months.

A manager at the trust initially confirmed this to Mr Brackenbury, but later retracted the suggestion of a pay rise.

In her decision, Judge Callan said the evidence showed Mr Brackenbury had "moved onto a vacant SPTL role" and was "substantially" fulfilling the duties of the higher band, rather than doing so intermittently, as had been agreed.

She added: "He was undertaking the complete role on an unpaid basis, which was in contravention of the intention that individuals were not to undertake a complete role on that basis."

The judge ordered NWAS to pay Mr Brackenbury £6,021.57, minus any National Insurance deductions.

A NWAS spokesman said: "This was a complex issue, and we accept the tribunal's findings."