Ambulance staff 'forced to camp'

Contract ambulance staff used by the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust have been staying at a Cambridgeshire campsite because they cannot afford basic accommodation, it has been revealed.

A whistleblower said staff were camping because the £35-a-day, to cover food and board when working away from home, was not enough to pay for a hotel room.

ERS Medical, who provide the staff, said it the £35 allowance was "above the industry norm".

Dr Dan Poulter, health minister and Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, said it was a situation the trust "will want to look at very seriously".

"This is something I find difficult to accept as being a good condition in which to house staff who the very next day will be looking after patients and may have their lives in their hands," he said.