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AMBULANCE “DIFFICULTIES” GETTING PATIENTS TO HOSPITAL

10-12-2007

Patients calling ambulances in the West Midlands are being warned they face lengthy delays in being taken to hospital because – in a classic understatement - the service is “currently experiencing some difficulties.” What’s more, even on arrival at A&E, there’s no guarantee they’ll be found a bed.

The shocking revelations, confirmed by West Midlands Ambulance Service, follow a tip-off from a Stirrer reader who was in agony after falling off a ladder at home.

After dialling 999, she was promptly visited by a paramedic who diagnosed snapped ankle ligaments, and called base for an ambulance to take her to Selly Oak Hospital.

He was asked if the condition was life threatening, and when he said it wasn’t he was warned it would take more than an hour to send assistance.

There were, apparently, no ambulances available anywhere in the West Midlands to take our reader, even though she was suffering intense pain and shock, and will be off work for weeks.

It was such a disturbing story, that we contacted ambulance insiders who said they “weren’t surprised” by what we had heard.

We were told that in one incident in Tamworth recently, the victim of a motorbike accident lay in the road for more than half an hour with a severe leg injury because of ambulance delays.

Ironically, because a paramedic was on the scene inside 8 minutes, response targets will have been met.

Of course, there are a lot of chest infections around at the moment putting huge demands on the NHS, and earlier this month Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield turned patients away because it was “full” (http://tinyurl.com/234uvf). Wards have also been closed at Sandwell and Rowley Regis hospitals (http://tinyurl.com/ywu8ex)

Yet that doesn’t entirely explain why ambulances have been in such short supply. Our sources suggest that the unhappy merger of West Mids and Staffordshire services may also be a contributory factor.

There are also traditional funding problems, which mean that rotas can only be met by existing staff doing overtime.

In any event, as the response to our enquiry underlines, West Midlands Ambulance Service is, by its own admission, currently unable to deliver to the highest standards we expect.

They told us: "West Midlands Ambulance Service is currently experiencing some difficulties in parts of the region with conveying patients to hospital.

“With the increase in patients requiring admission to hospital, either as emergency or urgent admissions, some hospitals are struggling to find beds quickly enough to accept each patient as they arrive.

“This can result in ambulances having to wait either at the Accident and Emergency Departments or at hospital wards.

“WMAS works closely with all the hospitals in the region, and where the admissions load is particularly heavy, those hospitals may request that patients are taken to another hospital.

“This enables the patients to receive treatment more quickly and minimises the delay in releasing the ambulances to respond to further 999 calls.

“We are not experiencing patients with any life-threatening conditions being referred onwards at this time.

“Hospital capacity is managed constantly, and the situation can change several times over each 24-hour period. Everything that can be done to get the appropriate treatment to each and every patient is done, but during times of very high demand, it is sometimes necessary to re-prioritise the admission of patients to hospital.

“This is done very carefully, taking account of all the information provided by not only the patients, but also by the triaging paramedic or ambulance response vehicle staff who initially attend the patient."

Have you or has someone you know faced a long wait for an ambulance?

Why are there currently such long delays?

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