SILLY FUELS
Lives put in danger by van filling errors
PATIENTS are at risk because dopey ambulance staff are filling their vehicles with the wrong fuel.
In the last six years, ambulances have been put out of action 769 times because of the errors. Sometimes the delay has been for a few days, but in other cases ambulances have been inactive for weeks at a time reducing the number in service. The worst offenders were South East Coast Ambulance Service which had 156 incidents and spent £51,555 repairing wrongly fuelled vehicles. The biggest single cost was £14,310 when an engine was so badly damaged it was beyond repair and had to be replaced.
South East Coast Ambulance Service has said its staff mistakes are being eliminated by using specialist NHS hubs rather than regular petrol stations.
However, there have been 69 mistakes by the London Ambulance Service using hubs.
The vehicles in London were out of action for a total of 1,902 hours.
The problem of ambulances being out of service has meant that some critically ill patients have had to be taken to hospital in taxis.
John O’Connell of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “These mistakes don’t only waste taxpayers’ money but are also a threat to patient safety.”
A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said: “We have implemented measures to reduce the risk of these events occurring by ensuring all our vehicles have a label fitted to the fuel flap indicating the correct grade of fuel to be used.
“We have also trialled audible fuel alerts and various misfuel devices.
“We have seen a drop in these type of events over the last three years.”