The grieving brother of a York man said he was “shocked” and “angry” after the 999 operator who failed to send him an ambulance avoided being struck off. Retired hotel manager John Barker, of Acomb, rang 999 in severe pain, but Yorkshire Ambulance Service nurse Alan Thomas Haugh overrode a computer system which would have [...]

A man who burgled a neighbour’s flat and hit a paramedic who was trying to help him has been jailed for eight months. Thomas Dudley, 30, of Trafalgar Square, also admitted selling on a stolen Xbox games console following the burglary on November 15. He also pleaded guilty to using threatening words and behaviour towards [...]

Comedian Steve Coogan helped open an accident and emergency department for children. The new unit at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton is the first stand-alone paediatric emergency department in the region. Coogan was joined by young patients Rosie and Alfie Jones for the official ceremony yesterday (January 31). Previously children have been treated [...]

A 999 ambulance controller claims he was forced to resign – because his bosses refused to let him have his own desk.Nathan Roberts, 28, says his anxiety disorder meant he suffered severe panic attacks after finding colleagues at his usual workstation. He says his problems began when the North West Ambulance Service introduced a policy [...]

Thousands of diabetics face having their driving licences revoked because of a European directive on hypoglycaemic – or low blood sugar – attacks. The ruling states that a type 1 or type 2 diabetic who takes insulin would lose their licence if they have two severe hypo attacks in one year. But the problem lies [...]

Essex cops have slammed reckless 999 callers after noticing a recent surge in nuisance calls – including a drunk man who asked police to collect his takeaway pizza for him. Throughout December 2011 and January 2012, Essex Police noted a sharp rise in the number of nuisance calls received by call handlers at their headquarters [...]

Strathclyde Police has passed a file on the death of a pensioner to the Procurator Fiscal following a Sky News investigation into NHS secrecy. Margaret McKay, 72, collapsed and died at home in Greenock in 2006 but her family was never told that two paramedics were later struck off for the way they treated her. [...]

The College of Paramedics has serious concerns over the terminology used in the recent programme entitled ‘Party Paramedics’. The programme featured the work of the SOS Bus and Team in Colchester over the summer period.  The College of Paramedics recognises the important work and community service that this group of volunteers provide to the local [...]

A young woman who assaulted a paramedic at a hospital claims she was too drunk to remember what happened. Jemma Wrighton, 21 of Ashburnham Road, Bedford kicked the paramedic technician repeatedly when she was taken to hospital after police found her intoxicated and lying in the street on Shakespeare Road on December 30. Toby Earnscliffe, [...]

The co-ordinator of Colchester’s SOS Bus was shocked at the way the town was portrayed in the Channel 4 documentary, Party Paramedics. The 60-minute programme, broadcast on Monday, described Colchester as one of Britain’s hardest-drinking towns and contained scenes of fighting and vomiting. Wayne Powell said: “Channel 4 approached us and we gave permission, but [...]