Ambulance staff have joined fellow healthcare workers in voting for strike action over a pay dispute.

Over 4,000 members of the GMB union, covering paramedics, technicians, nurses, porters and radiographers, have backed industrial action in a bid to secure an improved pay offer.

NHS Scotland staff said the Covid-19 pandemic “exposed and exacerbated chronic shortfalls” in staffing levels, adding workers had been “significantly undervalued”.

It comes as recent figures showed waiting times in Scotland’s accident and emergency departments have hit their worst ever monthly performance on record.

Figures for September revealed the four-hour waiting time target was missed for more than three out of ten patients.

Meanwhile, one in ten (10.2%) of patients were there for a minimum of eight hours – a total of 13,506 people.

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