‘BREAKING POINT’

AS WINTER BITES, A PARAMEDIC ISSUES A CHILLING WARNING FROM THE NHS FRONTLINE

WELSH NHS staff who are treating severely ill or injured people are “at absolute breaking point” due to the unrelenting demands on emergency care, a paramedic has warned.

The Welsh Ambulance Service whistleblower, who works across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, claims the safety of patients is being compromised on a daily basis due to the lack of ambulances available to respond to calls.

On a typical day, she claims around half of her 11-hour shift is “wasted” because her ambulance is stuck outside the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff waiting to transfer patients into an overcrowded A&E department.

And she fears the “Beast from the East” weather phenomenon could make the problem even worse.

“I absolutely love my job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else but at the moment I don’t feel like I’m helping anybody,” she said.

“I cannot remember the last time I saw more than three patients in a shift because of the time we spend outside A&E.

“On my last night shift we dealt with one patient all shift and the crew members were having to order in pizzas [to the entrance of the emergency department].

“And all the while we’re getting calls on our radio of people who need lifesaving treatment which we are unable to respond to.

“Staff are at absolute breaking point in both the ambulance service and A&E – and in my 15 years working in the NHS I’ve never seen morale so low.”

She said one of her patients recently waited two whole days for an ambulance to arrive at his care home because he was not deemed an urgent case.

“He had not been eating or drinking properly and was very dehydrated,” she added.

“His GP requested for him to go into A&E but it took us two days to get to him. It’s heart-wrenching.”

The paramedic said the situation has become so severe that she dreads having to take anyone to hospital.

“When you’re on a shift you do everything you possibly can not to take them to hospital,” she added.

“We are meant to hand over patients [to A&E] within 15 minutes of arriving but I cannot remember the last time that happened.

“We see it as good if we can get them in within four hours these days.”

She said a lack of beds and a dearth in decision-making at managerial level was to blame for the “horrific” situation in emergency care.

“I have been involved with A&E for a long time and I can see their staff starting to break,” she added.

“Half of the staff working there are from an agency as many of the permanent, full-time staff are on sick. It’s the same with us in the ambulance service.”

She said the Christmas and new year period was particularly horrendous as the GP out of hours service in