Interrupting a meal break

There have been some concerns raised in both A&E operations and the emergency operations centres (EOC) around meal breaks; in particular, sections 4.3 and those members of staff who opt to be interrupted on break for serious calls and therefore don’t get a full 30-minute break. 

The decision to respond in these circumstances is completely optional, and a payment of £20.00 is given if your break is interrupted. That said, it’s recognised that those staff sometimes don’t get adequate rest time. 

In this light, CEO Dr Anthony Marsh has clarified that all staff will receive and complete a minimum of 20 minutes of their break time. To achieve this any crew interrupted before completion of 20 minutes of their break will, on completion of the incident they are attending,  be sent to the nearest suitable location (as outlined in section 4.7 of the meal break arrangement) to complete the remainder of their break. Crews will be removed from service to ensure they are able to travel to the nearest location and complete this minimum requirement. 

The meal break arrangement will be updated in due course to reflect this change.