Now some ambulances WON’T take you to A&E

A RECORD number of ambulances are being dispatched to emergencies without enough staff aboard to legally allow them to take patients to hospital.

Thousands of vehicles in Scotland go out to 999 calls staffed by a single crew member who is not a paramedic, figures show.

As a result, patients can only receive limited treatment at the scene and cannot immediately be transferred to hospital. With two crew members legally required to transport a patient, they must wait for back-up.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Mail on Sunday show that in just six months, more than 2,200 emergency calls were initially attended by a single non-paramedic – about 12 a day and double the figure for 2016-17. The increase comes despite a vow from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – when she was Health Secretary a decade ago – that single-crewed ambulances would be eliminated.

Last year we revealed that lone student technicians who could not treat patients were being sent to emergencies alone.

Campaigners last night warned the situation was potentially dangerous – and demanded ‘proper funding’ from the Scottish Government for the under-pressure Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).

Karen Leonard, of the GMB Scotland union representing ambulance workers, said: ‘These alarming figures highlight our continuing fears over the lack of proper funding for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

‘Any single-crewed ambulance – be the staff member a paramedic, technician or student – cannot carry out the potentially life-saving service of transporting the patient to hospital.

‘If you’ve got a cardiac arrest and only one person turning up, they can’t do ongoing CPR and drive a vehicle at the same time. If someone needs serious treatment, you need two members of staff, if not more.

‘This could be dangerous to patients and puts lives at risk.’

The SAS figures, from a Freedom of Information request, show that in the six months to the end of February, 2,223 emergency call-outs were

‘Could be dangerous and puts patient lives at risk’

attended by a lone crew member. Scottish Conservative public health spokeswoman Annie Wells said: ‘The SNP Government has to take responsibility for this. Nicola Sturgeon herself said she would end this practice nearly a decade ago, but next to no progress has been made.

‘It’s simply not fair on hard-working ambulance staff to expect them to hit the road on their own.’

The SAS said: ‘The figures being quoted represent less than 1 per cent of the total emergency incidents attended and we make every effort to ensure all ambulances have a double crew.’

The Scottish Government said: ‘The vast majority of the emergency calls responded to by one nonparamedic crew member were less urgent calls and presented no risk to patient safety.

‘Higher risk calls responded to by one non-paramedic crew member are always supported by the appropriate additional resources.’

THE bare minimum we require of ambulances is that they are able to transport sick and injured people safely and swiftly to hospital. That is, after all, their fundamental purpose.

Yet record numbers of ambulances are being despatched to emergencies without enough staff on board to allow the legal transportation of patients, meaning that at best they receive limited treatment at the scene.

Thousands of 999 calls have been answered by ambulances staffed by a single crew member who is not a trained paramedic.

This situation is unacceptable, both for those who require emergency medical treatment and for those within the ambulance service being put under intolerable pressure by cuts.

As Health Secretary, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed to eliminate single-crewed ambulances. That promise was made a full ten years ago and still this scandal continues.

According to new figures obtained by the Scottish Mail on Sunday, more than 2,200 emergency calls over a six-month period were initially attended by a solitary non-paramedic member of ambulance service staff. A single example of this happening should be considered beyond the pale, never mind 12 instances a day.

Patients awaiting the arrival of an ambulance are unwitting participants in a lottery. Will a two-person ambulance arrive and get them to hospital in time for life-saving treatment, or will they have to hope for the best with a single, less-qualified responder?

The SNP has spent the past decade brazenly proclaiming itself the saviour of the National Health Service, while all the evidence points to the failure of its stewardship.

Clinical targets are not met, waiting times remain unacceptably long, and staff shortages are par for the course.

The crisis – for that is what it is – in the Scottish Ambulance Service is only part of a bigger, bleaker picture.