THE new boss of the Great Western Ambulance Service has said that resolving the industrial dispute with Unison is a top priority.

Martin Flaherty joined GWAS last week following the departure of chief executive David Whiting who has taken up another post in Yorkshire.

Mr Flaherty is interim chief executive at GWAS until a permanent boss is recruited, probably in nine months time.

Unison members were on the verge of taking industrial action a few weeks ago over the new shift patterns but called it off to hold further talks with management.

Before Christmas Unison balloted its 600 members, about 200 of whom are based in Swindon, on taking industrial action.

It was due to concerns by front line ambulance staff about new shift patterns introduced in November which, they claim, have left them fatigued.

It asked them whether they wanted industrial action in protest at controversial changes and the result of the ballot showed that 96 per cent of staff who voted wanted industrial action.

The shift changes include different start times. In Wiltshire most 12 hour shifts were 7am to 7pm, or 7pm to 7am, but now start times range between 5am and 9am or 5pm to 9pm.

Staff also have to work 75 per cent of weekends as opposed to 50 per cent.

Industrial action had been planned for the start of February but was called off at the 11th hour following talks. However, a Unison representative was unable to go into detail about why.

Further talks were due to be held last week at the offices of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in Bristol.

Mr Flaherty met Unison officials and, in a statement, he said: “Working closely with trade union colleagues to find a solution to the current industrial dispute is clearly a top priority as nobody wants to see standards of patient care affected by industrial action.

“I have a long history of working with trade unions in partnership to solve problems.”

Unison spokesman Chris Hewett said: “We are pleased to hear Mr Flaherty has a track record with working alongside Unison staff and that he wants to continue to work with us.”