All posts originally published on the Broken Paramedic blog.
Firstly, an apology. I appreciate that this blog has been a little too quiet of late. As I explained in a comment on the previous article, although I remain as passionate as ever about the struggling UK Ambulance Services, no longer being employed by them means I have other responsibilities Read more…
In my ongoing efforts to banish the veil of misinformation that confounds the general public when it comes to their local Ambulance Service, I was recently given the opportunity to write a piece for the Welwyn Hatfield Times. Sadly, for space reasons, they were unable to fit it in. They Read more…
“Everyone counts” …except staff. And patients. When Neil Storey, East of England Ambulance Trust Director of Operations, presented his new rota system, road staff tried to point out the obvious flaws. The entire plan, now public knowledge, was predicated on the idea that existing resources had enough wiggle room to Read more…
Yesterday, East of England Ambulance Service chief executive Hayden Newton announced his decision to take early retirement. On the same day, North East Ambulance Service tweeted that their chief executive, Tony Dell, has taken the same decision. There will likely be many theories as to their motivation to step down Read more…
It is becoming increasingly evident that the desperate pursuit of government set targets has led to a misguided culture of subterfuge and misdirection within the ambulance 999 system. Under-resourced Ambulance Trusts so pressured to achieve impossible targets may be resorting to massaging the system to meet demands set by the government. Beyond Read more…
So far on this blog, I think we’ve established that the “ambulance problem” is huge. Every opinion I have heard – from the public to paramedics to chief executives – has underlined the many intolerable issues that beset patients, crews and the service as a whole. The problems Read more…
Earlier this week I was contacted by The Mail on Sunday and offered an opportunity to raise awareness on a national platform of my concerns about the ambulance service cuts. For some time, The Mail has been campaigning against A&E closures around the country and was interested in the impact Read more…
…except front line crews. Your feedback from my previous article, Why the Public Should Care About the Institutionalised Abuse of Their Ambulance Workers, has been overwhelming and emotive. It is patently clear from the comments left anonymously by many practicing frontline ambulance personnel that the UK ambulance workforce is beleaguered, Read more…
Regional Ambulance Trusts in England In conference rooms and administrative buildings around the country, statisticians and logistics experts pore over figures, maps and budgets in an effort to squeeze maximum efficiency from available ambulance resources. Like every business in the UK, the era of austerity has meant even the emergency Read more…
Since the dawn of civilisation, time has been a critical factor in the treatment of the infirm. Even before modern medicine, those caring for the badly injured and the seriously ill would be acutely aware of the urgency of the situation. There are no qualifications required to recognise pain and Read more…