THE county's ambulance crews have been praised for maintaining a safe 999 service despite over two thirds taking some form of industrial action this morning.

Within minutes of the strike ending at 11am, West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) Chief Executive, Anthony Marsh, said: “Taking strike action is a very difficult decision for our staff.  However, through a combination of pre-planning and agreements with union representatives, we have been able to maintain an emergency service for the most seriously ill and injured patients.

“Our staff work extremely hard in often very difficult circumstances and we have sympathy for their position."

Of the WMAS staff on duty, 41% took full strike action while another 26% worked to a number of exemptions meaning they only responded to the most serious calls where life was at risk.

Although the strike action is over, action short of a strike will continue throughout the week. 

On Friday, ambulance bosses warned that today's national strike action could have a "much bigger affect" on the county's service than initially expected.

Waits of up to four hours for an ambulance in less serious cases were  expected over the strike's duration.

In a statement, WMAS said that in in some cases deemed not genuinely life-threatening, the "difficult decision" will have to be made not to send an ambulance at all.

Local unions had, however, agreed measures to preserve a service to the patients most in need, on the proviso that 999 calls during the strike that don't relate to "life-threatening" put lives at risk.

Unison, Unite and GMB members voted to take industrial action as a result of the government’s decision to not apply a 1% pay award in full to all NHS staff in accordance with the national public sector pay review body’s recommendations.

WMAS staff who are members of any of those three unions have the right to take part in industrial action, including strike action.

Wye Valley NHS Trust also had contingency plans in place over the strike period.

NHS staff have had pay frozen or below inflation rises since the coalition came to power.

The government says it cannot afford a 1 per cent rise as well as the 3 per cent rise automatically received by many staff.