DEDICATED staff are “just as frustrated as everyone else” at long ambulance queues as they battle through lengthy shifts without breaks, an ambulance service boss has said.

Speaking exclusively to the Echo, Lisa Fautley, general manager for south Essex at the East of England Ambulance Service, spoke of the “enormous pressure”

as it battles a perfect storm of NHS strikes, staff leaving and unprecedented numbers of 999 calls.

It comes after Southend Hospital has been plagued by long queues of ambulances waiting to offload patients - sometimes for several hours or more.

The 51-year-old, who has been with service more than 20 years, said: “Some staff cannot go home at the end of their shift. It’s about that balance between staff wellbeing and doing the best for our patients too.

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“We try to focus on getting staff off shift and get those who are coming onto shift to take over. The wellbeing of our staff is really important.

“We know from talking to other NHS staff it’s been very difficult.

The staff are really tired and we recognise that and how our staff have come through a lot.

“Staff are frustrated but will keep giving the best care they can, and it’s also about the softer or holistic approach. We make sure patients in ambulances waiting are comfortable and for some its about talking to them.

“The crews are also frustrated about not getting out to other patients in need and at times they don’t get meal breaks.”

It comes as ambulances services across the country go on strike.

Ambulance workers in Essex staff also voted for strike action but didn’t meet the legal threshold for the number of members who cast a vote Ms Fautley added: “When staff have done a 12-hour shift they want to go home and that frustration does boil over to them getting a bit angry.

“Through these challenging times that we are experiencing people should always call 999 for life-threatening emergencies.

“If they have a health matter that is not a life-threatening emergency they should access other services such as GP, primary care, community services, pharmacy or call 111.”

At Southend Hospital in November an ambulance handover unit opened with 12 beds in a bid to ease pressure on the service.

Ms Fautley admitted in an “ideal world” the handover unit would not be needed, but was confident it had been successful since its introduction