London Ambulance staff who fall ill with swine flu could face the sack under the service’s flu policy.

Hundreds of ambulance staff already undergoing procedures for taking too many days off sick could face disciplinary action if they catch swine flu and, ultimately, be fired.

The LAS flu policy states staff who are ill with swine flu are advised to stay at home and not get back to work until they have been free of fever for 24 hours.

But it also reads: “Staff whose absence is being managed under the Managing Attendance Procedure should also be aware this applies to all absences, including swine flu.”

This comes as councils and health services are bracing themselves for a second outbreak of swine flu across the UK this autumn.

A paramedic from the service, who did not want to be identified, said: “I had been off sick suffering with stress last year and had a couple of accidents doing my job recently. I caught swine flu a few weeks ago and now I’m being threatened with disciplinary action and could lose my job.

“My crew-mate caught the flu after me and could face a disciplinary as well and another paramedic I know has just been handed a formal warning after being sick with it as well.”

A source from Unison, the public service trade union, who did not want to be identified, said: “Nobody in this country under employment law can be dismissed because they had the flu. If this is what they’re doing in the LAS then they should stop immediately. They’re just wrong if they’re trying to sack the sick.”

Other services where staff are particularly at risk of catching the H1N1 virus, like the Metropolitan Police, have been more understanding when it comes to absences due to the flu.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Union said: “The days off sick taken by MPS staff are recorded and may affect promotions, but there are no disciplinary procedures taken against workers who need to take time off sick with the flu.”

Eric Roberts, the London branch secretary for Unison, which is in negotiations with LAS management to change the policy, declined to comment on the issue.

A spokesman for the LAS said: “The Managing Attendance Procedure outlines the responsibility of all managers to support their staff when unable to attend work due to illness. This applies to all absences, including swine flu.”

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