MORE than 400 ambulance and 2,000 hospital staff in Oxfordshire could strike as part of a national day of action later this month.

Unison said pickets will be outside Oxford’s John Radcliffe, Churchill, Warneford and Littlemore hospitals, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and East Oxford Health Centre on January 29.

National 12 and 24-hour walk-outs will include members of the GMB, Unison and Unite in protest at the government’s refusal to implement a recommended one per cent pay increase for 2015-16.

Hospital workers, such as healthcare assistants and care workers, will walk out from 9am-9pm.

Ambulance workers in Unison and Unite will walk out for 12 hours from noon, while GMB members will not work from 12.01am to 11.59pm.

Unison spokeswoman Jenny Mason said: “In Oxfordshire there could be 2,372 NHS staff and 408 ambulance staff on strike on the 29th.”

Unison and Unite staff will “work to rule” — only contracted hours with no overtime — from the next day to February 24. All will take part in a 24-hour strike on February 25.

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Spokesman Tony Jones branded the government “irresponsible by refusing to have meaningful negotiations” and said: “They are putting patients’ lives at risk.”

Unite will be at county sites, said spokesman Chris Gray.

He could not say how many this would be but workers in “critical life and limb” care will ensure cover.

He said: “The coalition government is denying hardworking NHS staff what is a small pay rise.”

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman Martin Leaver said it is “liaising closely with the unions to gauge the likely impact” and it aims to provide “business as usual”.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We want to see the unions call off the industrial action.”

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