A paramedic has warned of low morale after Christmas bonuses were "scrapped".

The whistleblower, a paramedic from Brighton who did not wish to be named, told The Argus that morale is “very low” in the South East Coast Ambulance Trust (SECAmb).

He said communication is poor, and that the trust did not communicate the decision not to pay incentives for staff working over Christmas.

“One thing which really saddened staff is that in their response they confirmed that they were having 8 per cent over-provision of staff over Christmas,” the source said.

“That 8 per cent of staff would have loved to have Christmas off.

“We of course understand that budgets are tight but the way this was communicated, or not, and the decision to over-provide cover rather than use the money to incentivise was particularly difficult.”

A spokesman for SECAmb said that “bonuses” are not specifically for Christmas, but are offered at different times throughout the year to incentivise certain shifts.

He stressed that this had “nothing to do with strike action”, which is a national matter and an on-going debate between union members and national government.

“We do, as required, offer operational staff pay enhancements and additionally incentivised overtime shifts throughout the year. These are targeted at particular shifts for operational staff,” he said

“Overtime continues to be available and is paid at time and a half. Staff earn additional pay for working bank holidays in line with NHS terms and conditions.”

Ambulance staff at SECAmb staged a walk out last month, on December 21 and 28, in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

In Brighton, staff and supporters gathered outside the city's ambulance centre. 

Staff wore their uniforms and held signs which read "Not Safe, Not Fair" and "Too tired to care". 

The strike was led GMB union, a trade union which has more than 460,000 members in different sectors from retail to education and health.

Later this month, Unite union’s ambulance members will walk out on January 23.

This will involve ambulance workers in the West Midlands, North West, North East, East Midlands and Wales.