Union claims 999 bosses snubbed battered Maureen
Call for inquiry into ‘failure’ to act on complaints
UNION chiefs have demanded an inquiry into claims ambulance bosses turned their backs on a paramedic who was crying out for help.
The GMB allege senior management at the Scottish Ambulance Service failed to help battered wife Maureen Gordon despite repeated pleas over a two-year period.
The 49-year-old’s case hit the headlines in June when her ambulance boss husband, Grant Gordon, also 49, was jailed for subjecting her to a campaign of terror.
Among the accusations levelled at him were that he abused his position in order to make Maureen’s life hell.
The sheriff who put Gordon behind bars slammed the SAS for failing to act upon Maureen’s complaints about the harassment.
Now the union representing her has called on Health Secretary Alex Neil to meet with them urgently to discuss the allegations.
Senior organiser Mick Conroy has put together a “damning” dossier which he claims exposes how ambulance bosses snubbed Maureen.
He said: “Ambulance service management have been heartless throughout this and have not supported Maureen in any way.
“The only support she has had has been from her frontline colleagues and her new ambulance service manager who did not take up that role until the trial against her husband had started.
“We are asking for a meeting with Alex Neil to discuss this case and are calling for an inquiry into how the SAS handled it.”
The GMB claims Maureen first told the SAS that her husband, who was general manager for ambulance services in Fife, the Forth Valley and Tayside, was harassing her in November 2010.
During this meeting she allegedly raised concerns that he was tracking her using the service’s computer system — an offence he was eventually found guilty of in court.
The union says Maureen repeatedly asked for details of her shifts to be kept off the staff rota as she feared her husband was using it to stalk her.
But it’s claimed her request was never granted.
Maureen later secured a court order evicting her husband from the family home and preventing him from approaching her.
However, during this time she was sent letters from the SAS stating she would be required to attend his disciplinary hearing.
The letter said “Grant Gordon, or his chosen representative” would be allowed to ask her questions at the inquiry.
The union claims she was even told she could face disciplinary action if she did not attend.
Maureen says she also asked the SAS to inform her of what staff car her husband was driving as he had been following her. At first, she was allegedly advised this would be possible. However, the union claims when she chased up an answer she was told the information was subject to data protection laws.
The union also accuses ambulance bosses of failing to pass on praise offered by a patient about Maureen. Mr Conroy added: “They are giving her the cold shoulder, which is proved by her omission from a letter of commendation.”
At his trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court, Gordon was found guilty of six charges relating to incidents between April 2009 and May 2011, including two assaults.
As well as being put behind bars, Gordon was fined £500 and given a threeyear non-harassment order for what the Sheriff described as one of the worst cases of domestic abuse he had seen.
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We do not comment on internal matters related to individual members of staff.
“There are clear mechanisms available to any member of staff to raise a grievance or concern and these were agreed in partnership with trade unions.”
They are giving her the cold shoulder