Staff at a troubled Merseyside company refused to work today after once again failing to receive their pay on time. Workers at Wirral-based private ambulance operators Spark Medical, now renamed Spark UK Medical, reportedly kept the shutters to the firm's premises down and put up barriers outside as they showed frustration with repeatedly not being paid at the right time.
Investigation into payment issues
The ECHO has recently been investigating the situation with Spark Medical, which provides patient transport and emergency response services to NHS ambulance and hospital trusts in Merseyside and the North West. The company also provides ambulance services for private events.
At the end of last month we produced an extensive investigation into the company, with current and former staff detailing a tumultuous period involving going into administration, being told to wear the uniforms of a different organisation and being repeatedly not paid their salaries on time. It is this latter issue - and the fact it happened again last week - that appears to have led workers at the Bromborough site to say enough is enough and down tools, refusing to work today.
Staff speak out
When we visited the Bromborough site at 10.45am this morning, around 20 to 30 crew were standing outside but the shutters were up. A member of staff declined to comment, saying employees were not authorised to speak to the media and added they were waiting for a rep from the GMB union to arrive.
But one woman who said she was close to several Spark staff told the ECHO: “I know first hand some of the staff haven't been paid again. They were promised to be paid as normal on Friday but it didn't come in. “They were told they should receive payment on Monday. Half of the staff refused over the weekend. They keep telling them that the money has left the bank and they need to go out to work. I think it’s a bluffing exercise from Spark - maybe they’re waiting to be paid from the NHS or a bank loan. In the past, people have been paid manually one by one. “Some of these are NWAS and Welsh Ambulance Service staff working overtime. This has been going on for four or five months. “On the first occasion, they were given £100 as compensation. I know one staff member who is owed £2,500 and another just under £3,000.”
She added: “On Friday, a couple of them went to the toilets crying. One staff member didn't have nappies to put on her kids (because of the late pay). “How can the NHS continue to pay a company that can't pay its staff? Someone needs to go in and see what’s going on.”
Management response and impact
The ECHO has seen communications from Spark's group managing director, Brian Wren, issued on Saturday (September 5), which confirms the latest delay in staff payments, which should have been paid on the previous day. In the message Mr Wren confirms, not for the first time, that a £100 compensation payment is being offered too staff, adding: "I completely accept this is no compensation for the pay issues encountered again."
Some NWAS staff who spoke to the ECHO today said they had paid £608 each for a training course due to take place this morning but said the person running the course wasn’t working. One staff member at NWAS said: “It looks like Spark and Mersey Medical haven’t paid staff. As such, staff are refusing to work. “Following in from that, we’ve lost access to patient transport service and emergency vehicle crew. “I’ve privately paid to be here for a training course but the person doing it isn’t working. Me and two others have not received any updates. They’re saying it’s on management. Normally Spark and Mersey Medical have been good to work for.”
Speaking previously to the ECHO about payment issues, one current staff member said: "There have been a number of late payments, they have used all different excuses like issues with payroll, they refuse to put anything in writing. "There are a lot of people affected, some people are missing mortgage payments." A former employee added: "It’s not always been dramatically late. It has often just been a few days late, but they never give us a clear reason why it is late. "One month it was five days late and they blamed it on the bank not being able to transfer the funds. It made us wonder what was going on, were they struggling to afford to pay us?"
The ECHO understands all staff have been told they will be paid this afternoon. The ECHO has attempted to contact Spark UK Medical for a response.
