AMBULANCE boss Dr Anthony Marsh praised staff commitment during strike action.

Midwives, nurses and paramedics mounted picket lines from 7am for four hours, and will take other forms of industrial action for the rest of the week.

Mr Marsh said: “I would like to thank all our staff for their continuous and ongoing commitment today during the industrial action, including working under exemption. We appreciate it is a difficult position to take; however it does enable us to provide the best care possible for patients.

“We’re aware of cases where those taking full strike action responded to potentially life-threatened patients which is very encouraging.

“It is of vital importance that we ensure as far as possible our service, and more importantly our patients, do not suffer as a result of this national issue. In the hours following the strike, we’re returning to ‘business as usual’ as quickly as possible and I’d like to thank the public and patients for their support today.”

About 14 per cent of the East of England service’s frontline workforce on duty went on full strike, with a further 31 per cent working under exemptions meaning they still responded to its most seriously ill patients.

Fraer Stevenson, UNISON branch secretary said: “NHS staff care deeply about their patients, and taking part in industrial action is a very difficult thing.

“We worked closely with the ambulance trust to provide exemptions that many staff chose to work under, ensuring we could still respond to patients needing an emergency response. It’s evident from the huge amount of support shown to staff today; the public hold the ambulance service in high regard for the difficult and vital roles we undertake. I hope the government reconsiders their stance over refusing to accept the pay review recommendations, and enters into meaningful talks with UNISON to resolve this dispute.”