THE boss of West Midlands Ambulance Service has urged former emergency workers to consider rejoining the service to help on the frontline as Covid-19 infections surge.

Trust chief executive, Anthony Marsh, said the service has recruited hundreds of additional staff to work in the control rooms and on ambulances using funding provided by NHS England in the summer, but the recruitment drive continues as coronavirus infections continue to rise.

He said he wouldn't be asking people to rejoin if he "didn't think it was the right thing for the public and patients" and he added: “We are once again, looking for any staff who retired within the last two years or are working in the private sector for the likes of events medical companies who would like to come back into the NHS family to get in touch.

“We are particularly looking for people who worked on an ambulance or in one of our control rooms to contact us. "We have already had former members of staff get in touch who went on a career break offering to come back, which we welcome.

“Over the last couple of years, we know that several staff have retired from our service after giving many years of outstanding care to the public.

“We would like those colleagues to consider returning to WMAS so that we can increase the quality and amount of care that we can provide the public in these challenging times.”

Paramedic Rich Jones, who was one of those who answered a similar call in March 2020 - returning to the service part time to help, said: “I saw the situation that the country faced then and with Omicron as it is we all need to do our part to help the country. When I came back, I realised how much I had missed it. If you’ve ever worked for the ambulance service, you know how much your work means to patients."

Anyone interested in re-joining the service can email recruitment manager Louise Jones at louise.jones@wmas.nhs.uk.