UNION officials in Wiltshire say they are alarmed at proposals by South Western Ambulance Service for staff to take a pay cut and lose holiday entitlement.

South Western and the neighbouring Great Western Ambulance Service, which covers Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Avon, have begun talks on merging the two organisations and Unison fears the same proposals could be envisaged in GWAS.

Ken Wenman, the chief executive of South Western, stood down from that position and this week became the interim chief executive at GWAS.

Mr Wenman sent a six-page letter to all staff at South Western Ambulance Service on October 21 in their payslips explaining that £4m had to be saved and, if agreement could not be reached with staff, the trust might have to cut jobs and change the way the service is run.

In the letter he claims ambulance staff have a good reward package, including a 14 per cent employer-funded pension scheme, generous annual leave and unsocial and subsistence payments.

He says: “I am certain that, like me, you are pleased to be in employment, to be highly regarded and valued by the public and to have an employer that whenever it can will support staff and protect employment.

“However, we have a total cost pressure of £4m if we stand still.

“On this basis we have no alternative but to reduce our pay.”

A range of options are included in his letter for staff to fill in.

These include working for one more hour a week without pay, working one day a year without pay, taking a pay cut of one per cent and reduction in annual leave entitlement of up to three days.

Because South Western is a foundation trust, it has the freedom to make changes to staff terms and conditions.

GWAS decided it was too small an organisation to become a foundation trust and that is why it sought a partner for a merger. South Western – which covers Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall – was the only trust which expressed an interest and the merger is set to be completed by October 2012.

Unison in GWAS said the letter from Mr Wenman was unexpected and that members were meeting him to find out what the implications were for GWAS staff.

Chris Hewett, spokesman for the Unison branch in GWAS, said: “In this merger process we felt an NHS partner would help preserve terms and conditions. We are alarmed there has been no public consultation and no scrutiny.

“We will be making it quite clear to Ken Wenman that we don’t expect GWAS’s 1,700 staff to have their pay and conditions slashed as a result of the merger. We feel well-looked-after staff look after patients well.”

A spokesman for GWAS said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on the consultation process being undertaken by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

“Any proposals to change staff terms and conditions will be shared with our staff first before any announcement to external stakeholders and media outlets.”