THE East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) has confirmed it has decided to cut its use of private ambulance providers.

GMB Union, which represents EEAST staff, claimed to have seen a letter confirming the decision to remove 21 ambulance services operated by Medicare EMS and make 41 members of staff redundant, with costs cutting being cited.

According to the trade union, these staff have been encouraged to apply for other roles in the trust, which would see them start as day one employees.

EEAST has demonstrated once again a blatant disregard for patient safety,” said Donna Thomas, GMB regional organiser

“Their decision to remove ambulances and staff from the frontline could potentially put lives at risk.

“The specially trained ambulance staff should have been offered the opportunity to transfer elsewhere in the Trust.”

In a statement to this newspaper, a spokesperson for the EEAST confirmed the decision, but did not specify how many services had been cut.

“The Trust has made the decision to reduce its use of private ambulance providers as part of our planning processes for 2025/26,” they said.

“We have been in contact with Medicare and its recognised union, GMB, to provide information about how their staff may wish to join EEAST as NHS employees in the future.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that EEAST is “not making any redundancies in frontline operations”.