Thousands of care workers in Wigan will be paid the real living wage after council bosses bid to help boost staffing levels.
25.02.2023 - 11:41 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A former paramedic said her colleagues would not get in the back of an ambulance with her after her sexuality was 'outed'. Jackie Bell, who now works as 111 Head of Service at the North West Ambulance Service, said a male colleague previously told fellow workers that she was a lesbian, despite trying to keep her relationship with another female colleague a secret.
Jackie was working as a paramedic at the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (WYMAS), when it happened. She had given up a career as a physiotherapist at Leeds General Infirmary to do the job.
Despite not initially realising she was gay, she went on to meet a female colleague and they embarked on a relationship which, for a time, they wanted to keep 'under wraps'.
However, a male colleague later 'outed' the pair. Jackie said the experience was 'really difficult' and has left 'some damage'. She claimed the attitudes of older road staff made things more challenging for her at the time, from refusing to get into the back of an ambulance with her or making comments and calling her nicknames.
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As part of LGBTQ+ History Month, Jackie, who went on to join the North West Ambulance Service in her management role in 2015, has bravely shared her story - adding that barriers do still exist, both for women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, with a lack of senior role models for gay and straight women.
“I was not ‘out’ when I joined the ambulance service, as I had not, at that time, realised myself that I was gay – yes very naïve. I even had some boyfriends in the ambulance service in my first 18 months," she said. "I did, however, meet my first lesbian partner in the
Thousands of care workers in Wigan will be paid the real living wage after council bosses bid to help boost staffing levels.
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