AMBULANCE workers are being balloted in a row over proposed new working practices.

Bosses at North West Ambulance Service have produced a new bulletin to staff outlining their “workforce redesign”, which includes plans for re-evaluating pay grades and increasing the use of private ambulances for support.

There are also concerns over meal breaks and the use of retained ambulance stations and officers.

Unions Unite, Unison and the GMB are balloting members for their views on the scheme, with one organsiation saying morale among staff was at “rock bottom”.

But bosses at the service said more than £7.5m would be invested in the next five years and the proposals were designed to “improve the lot” of paramedics.

Matt Whitticombe, from the Association of Profe-ssional Ambulance Person-nel, said: “At this stage we know that the proposals are just an idea but we are concerned that the staff are not being consulted.

“Morale is at rock bottom, I have never seen it so bad.

“The three other unions have balloted for the staff’s views.

"I am talking with my team before deciding if that is a route we will pursue.”

A spokesman for NWAS said that over the next year extra staff would be added and said that no formal response has yet been received from the unions.

He said: “These are just proposals and are designed to improve patient care, particularly in rural areas.

A Unison spokesman said: "It is not a ballot for industrial action, it is a tool that we can use to demonstrate how the staff feel.