The unnamed individual’s post was no longer required and the trust decided to offer a severance payment.

A spokesman for GWAS said the manager concerned had been on a variety of secondments for the past three years and during that time the salary was paid for by the host organisations.

The spokesman said the payment reflected the individual’s length of service.

via Wiltshire Times.

Doreen Wignall slipped on ice and fell, hitting her head, in Ludgershall on December 17.

A paramedic took almost an hour and a half to reach her, and then there was a 21-minute wait for an ambulance to take her to Salisbury Hospital, where she died two days later.

Tidworth’s cllr Mark Connolly said: “The poor lady was left waiting in the open on a cold and wet morning, with passers-by trying to keep her warm.

“If it had been my mum lying there, I’m sure I’d have been incandescent with rage.

via Salisbury Journal

Both were rushed by Devon Air Ambulance to Torbay Hospital after being flown from Landcombe Cove, near Blackpool Sands outside Stoke Fleming.

The youngster, aged 16 and from Stoke Fleming, had collapsed after suffering an epileptic fit on the beach following a night out camping with pals.

The paramedic, from Dartmouth, and ambulance colleagues arrived at the remote site with help from eight members of the Dartmouth Cliff Rescue Team who used lines to make the descent to the beach.

But both ended up in the aircraft after she felt the effects of the heat immediately after the 300 yard drop through a field to get to the patient.

An ambulance service spokesman said: “I think the fact she had walked a considerable distance with a lot of kit in a reflective jacket may have caused her not to feel too great, so she hitched a ride in the helicopter.”

He added: “She was fine after a bit of re-hydration.”

Read full article: This is Devon

Weston General Hospital has revealed 14 incoming emergency patients in March were left to wait more than two hours, and on one occasion waiting more than three hours.

Hospital bosses have defended the figures, claiming they are dealing with an increasing number of arriving ambulances, but admit urgent work needs to be done to solve the problem.

Read full article: The Weston Mercury

Great Western Ambulance received a call at 9.30am this morning reporting that a man had fallen into the lock which pushing his bike nearby.

An ambulance and two rapid response vehicles arrived at the scene six minutes later and found the man still in the water.

Using a special scoop stretcher – used where people may have suffered traumatic injuries to their back or neck – they pulled him to safety.

Read full article: The Bath Chronicle.

The member of Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) staff was prevented from driving vehicles in the 2008/09 financial year according to information obtained by the Evening Post using the Freedom of Information Act.

No other employees of the ambulance service that operates in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and the former Avon area were disqualified from driving in that year.

The trust employs almost 1,700 members of staff across its operation, from paramedics to support staff.

GWAS would not provide specific details about the individual, who was disqualified due to driving over the alcohol limit, but it confirmed that the person did a job that required a clean driving licence.

Read full article: This is Bristol.

Jonathan Knight, of Truro, was on call when he was stopped by police last August attempting an illegal U-turn, the Health Professions Council said.

Read full article: Teletext West and West Country News.

The casualty, who he was treating using an oxygen cylinder, lit a cigarette which sparked a fire that instantly engulfed the room and blocked James’ escape route.

Read full article: Dorset Echo.

Read full article: This is Gloucestershire

At a disciplinary hearing before the Health Professions Council (HPC) in London, Michelle Flay admitted that she had inhaled the gas at Nailsea Station in April 2007.

Miss Flay is still working for Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) in the Bristol area after internal investigations were also carried out.

Read full article: This is bristol.