Paramedic UK » cuts

Anger at ambulance cuts proposal

Editor — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:55:42 +0000

Frontline ambulance cover in Northern Ireland could be cut by 70,000 hours under new plans.

Rural areas, such as those west of the Bann, are expected to be worst hit under proposals approved by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey said he would carefully consider the plans.

The ambulance service said its capacity to respond would actually improve, despite the efficiency savings. But health service unions are angry.

via BBC NEWS.

Heart patients face 20 min wait for pain relief

Editor — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:25:12 +0000

Patients suffering serious heart attacks could have to wait for a roadside rendezvous in their ambulance with a paramedic before getting any pain relief, The Evening Star can reveal today.

The victims could suffer without intravenous drugs until 20 minutes into their journey to one of the regions new heart attack centres because some ambulances are staffed by technicians rather than paramedics, the head of Accident & Emergency at Ipswich Hospital has warned.

Read full article: Evening Star 24.

Shetland plan independent ambulance

Editor — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:16:36 +0000

Shetland could get a further three ambulances should a group of islanders proposing a community run service succeed with their ambition.

The people behind the Shetland Independent Ambulance Service (SIAS) said that they were so concerned with the local ambulance cover that they had to act to improve the situation.

Read full article: The Shetland News

PCTs urged to cut referrals by 10%

Editor — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:29:09 +0000

GPs face potentially dramatic curbs on their freedom to send patients to hospital, with many PCTs in England told to cut their outpatient referrals by 10% or more.

Rising numbers of GP referrals have already led trusts to scrutinise their hospital activity closely, but those with high levels of referrals will now be named and shamed as the NHS publishes performance league tables for the first time.

The influential NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has calculated the number of outpatient referrals each PCT ought to have, based on the age, sex and needs of its local population, and found most need to reduce their rates substantially.

The average PCT had a referral rate 9.2% above the calculated ideal level in the quarter two figures for 2008/9, but in some areas rates were 50% higher than expected or more.

The worst performer was NHS Berkshire East, with referrals more than 61% above target, although it claimed it had already begun to use practice-based commissioning to curb referral increases.

Norma Southwood, an associate at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, said the tables would allow PCTs to compare themselves and had identified best practice in high-performing trusts.

‘This is designed to be a prompt for further analysis at trusts. It links in with other work going on at the institute, with the potential to move some activity from the acute sector into the community,’ she said.

Advice accompanying the publication of the tables outlined ‘key steps’ to achieve more efficient outpatient services, including incentivising GPs to reduce referral rates – directly contradicting official GPC advice on referral incentive schemes.

‘PCTs should introduce systems to monitor GP referral rates and provide feedback to them. PBC can be used to incentivise GPs to reduce referral levels where they are overly high,’ it said.

Read full article: Pulse Today

Shetland: Support the guys in green

Editor — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:12:03 +0000

Please help support our ‘boys and gals in green’, the paramedics who do an outstanding job in difficult circumstances.

With only one ambulance on duty at a time here now they must be kept very busy for their whole shift going straight from one incident to another, but still arrive and attend to their patients as professionally as ever.

I had occasion to call them out last week, and really do appreciate their care and attention. Thank you folks!

There is currently a petition to The Scottish Ambulance Service calling for more ambulance cover for Shetland circulating in shops in the town and in almost every country shop. If you agree, please do sign as soon as possible as time is of the essence.

The wording on the petition is as follows;

Petition To The Scottish Ambulance Service for More Ambulance Cover for Mainland Shetland.

Mainland Shetland Needs Another Ambulance Plus Crews. Recently there were two accidents at opposite ends of Mainland Shetland. The ambulance crew could not attend both. This proves that Mainland Shetland needs more than one Ambulance on duty

Read full article: Shetland News.

Ireland: Dublin ambulance faces chop in cash row

Editor — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:51:29 +0000

Emergency ambulance services in some parts of Dublin could be withdrawn in a row over funding between the city manager and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

John Tierney, the Dublin city manager, ambulance service, which responds to around 5,000 high priority calls a year.

The service was introduced in 2007 to cater for the 40,000 people who live in the vicinity.

The HSE says it has never paid the city council for the ambulance because it was introduced without its approval. “When the fire brigade service in Swords went full-time, Dublin city council took the decision to put an ambulance into the centre,” it said. “This was not subject to any agreement with the HSE.”

Read full article: Times Online.