MORE than 100 extra front-line staff will be employed by East Midlands Ambulance Service to cut waiting times.
It comes after the trust was criticised by health inspectors in a report earlier this year.
The Care and Quality Commission (CQC) found that staff shortages were putting patients in danger because ambulances were not reaching them quickly enough.
Now the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has drawn up an action plan to tackle the problems flagged up by inspectors.
A total of 126 new staff – both paramedics and emergency care assistants – will be in place by the end of the year.
And the move has been universally welcomed by unions, campaign groups and paramedics.
Coral Jenkins, Unison regional organiser, said: "The influx of any additional staff can only be seen as a positive given the pressure that the emergency services staff are under."
Community paramedic Bruce Fraser, who is based in Carlton, said: "Any staff are welcome because we have been under the cosh for so long.
"It's important to feel there is something happening so that the effort we put in is noticed.
"It's nice that it's been noticed that we need more resource and that's going to be great for everyone.
"It is something the public would like to see and it will instill more faith in the service."
Other failings highlighted by inspectors included not having enough staff to carry out duties and workers not feeling supported by management.
A spokesman for EMAS said: "After the CQC visit we produced a detailed action plan to address the concerns they raised."
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