Quoted from a comment left on the P&J website
As always, the whole story has not been released to the public, and probably never will be by the Scottish Ambulance Service. All workers are entitled to a Rest Period during their work shift, no matter who they work for. In the Scottish Ambulance Service, the management decided many years ago to stop paying their staff for this break, reducing their paid weekly hours from 40 to 37.5, and then asked whether the staff would be prepared to still be available during this unpaid rest period. This period does not have a defined time to take, purely on a "when possible" during your shift. It can come at the end of a shift, or not at all if you are busy. Not surprisingly, a lot of ambulance staff said that they would be unavailable during this UNPAID period. It is agreed by SAS Management that no calls should be put through to a staff member who is unavailable. Therefore, this Technician should never have been asked to respond if he has signed up to the UNPAID 30 minute rest period. To suspend a member of staff for following Scottish Ambulance Service MANAGEMENT Rules is unbelievable - It is also important to note that as Frontline EMERGENCY staff are leaving the Ambulance Swervice just now, their jobs are not being filled - as a cost saving exercise !! Its a pity that the public are not being told that by the Scottish Ambulance Service - how does the public feel about single manned ambulances that cannot transport a patient arriving at their door ??