Many more were treated but not conveyed, while others were likely to have made their own way to accident and emergency departments, according to a trust statement released this morning August 9.

Operations director Richard Webber said: “It was an incredibly challenging night for everyone involved, but all the staff working in our control room, support departments and on the frontline worked very professionally to help us reach patients as quickly as we could.

via Health Service Journal.

Remember what he said after the election? The NHS is safe with the coalition. Spending on the NHS would be ‘ring fenced’.

True, he said that the NHS would be cut by £20 billion in four years, but these cuts wouldn’t affect front line staff or services to patients. Was he telling the truth?

There is nowhere more front line in health care than the Ambulance Service, and the London Ambulance Service, the largest in the world, has now found out whether these promises are to be kept.

In the next five years £53 million is to be taken out of a budget of £262 million. – In the next year this means 162 jobs to go, 130 of which are what Cameron would call ‘front line’ – Over the next five years a massive 890 jobs will be lost, 560 of which will be road crews, as front line as they come. – So between now and 2015 the LAS will lose nearly one-in-five of the staff who care directly for Londoners UNISON, the ambulance workers Union, is warning Londoners about this appalling situation.

Regional Organiser Phil Thompson said, “This is being forced on the Service by the government. These cuts are so deep they may not heal. If allowed to be carried out they will put at risk the many Londoners who rely on the LAS every day. With demand escalating & nearly 1,000 fewer staff no-one can now be sure of a safe service.”

London Ambulance worker Eric Roberts, UNISON Branch Secretary, said, “I am shocked by the size of these cuts. This is a cull of highly trained staff. It is disgusting, morally wrong & unacceptable. Have they forgotten the Olympics? How will we cope with the biggest sporting event in the world with hundreds fewer skilled staff? All staff are front line; without the crucial back-up services we cannot save lives. So much for Cameron’s promises.”

UNISON will not let our precious ambulance service be hacked to pieces. Londoners must join us in the fight to save our service.

Phil Thompson can be contacted on 0796 108 8164  p.thompson@unison.co.uk

Eric Roberts can be contacted on 0788 181 0430  Eric.Roberts@lond-amb.nhs.uk

Notes to editors

• Every year the London Ambulance Service receives over 1.5 million emergency calls and responds to over one million incidents.

• Last year, we responded to more than 43,500 incidents than the year before. This equates to an increase of demand of 4.5 per cent.

• Our budget is £281m.

• Our funding establishment is 4913 staff of which 3433 provide direct patient care.

• The 890 posts reductions include 162 posts for 2010/11

via LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE AT RISK.

Former paramedic Brian Kellett has even had his ­ambulance kicked in by yobs. But he says the worst part of his job by far was the treatment he witnessed of elderly and senile patients in Britain’s care homes.

Brian – whose blog and subsequent book, Blood, Sweat and Tea, are the basis of Channel 4’s new drama Sirens – says: “You might think the worst moments in my career have come from the terrible car pile-ups or from all the fighting and abusive language. Actually, no. The thing for me was nursing homes.”

via mirror.co.uk.

The crash happened at around 1.30pm at the junction of Finchley Road and Frognal Lane. It is understood the police car was travelling southbound on the Finchley Road and the ambulance was travelling eastbound towards Frognal when the crash happened.

Both cars were severely damaged in the collision and the roof had to be cut off the police car to free the driver.

via Hampstead and Highgate Express.

The family of Roy Adams believe he might have survived if those ‘vital minutes’ had not been squandered.

The 61-year-old police chauffeur, who suffered a suspected heart attack, did finally receive treatment, but died on the way to hospital after suffering breathing difficulties.

via Mail Online.

The London Ambulance Service’s control room sent paramedics to 2,152 patients reported to be seriously ill or injured over the weekend, compared with 1,751 during the previous Saturday and Sunday.

It is an increase of 23 per cent and deputy director of operations Jason Killens said: “The weekend was very busy for both our control room and frontline staff and we would urge everyone to take care when they are out and about in the sun this week.

Read full article: This Is Local London.

Young people’s drinking is having serious repercussions on their health and on public services The report said young women aged 11-15 have drinking habits similar to those of their male peers.

Hospital admissions for these females are almost double those for men of the same age because of their lower tolerance of alcohol.

Read full article: BBC NEWS

Tara Donnelly left West Middlesex University Hospital trust suddenly in February after eight patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted.

The trust said she stepped down because it had failed to inform NHS London at the time of the breaches on 19 January, which may have allowed patients to be diverted to other hospitals.

Read full article: Health Service Journal.

The trial scheme which was introduced in October 2004 has been successful.

Read full article: Compare Airport Parking.

The kit will be carried in a specially designed backpack on all fire engines at Barnet, Finchley, Hendon and Mill Hill fire stations.

Following consultations with the London Ambulance Service, the packs will include defibrillators, suction devices to maintain open airways, cervical spinal collars and improved wound dressings.

The Immediate Emergency Care scheme will mean fire crews can carry out emergency treatment on casualties to the same standards as paramedics.

London Fire Brigade’s borough commander for Barnet, Tom George, said the new kit “will undoubtedly save lives”.

He said: “Every second counts, and in an emergency where we are first on the scene, this kit could increase the chance of a casualty surviving.

“It will be used when we arrive on the scene before paramedics, or when we attend an incident where paramedics might struggle to get to the casualty, such as when there is blocked access or an unsafe structure.

“It also allows firefighters to look after each other if the need to provide emergency treatment arises.”

Firefighters will be given the equipment and extra training to provide urgent medical care until paramedics arrive.

The scheme will be introduced to around one quarter of London Fire Brigade’s vehicles each year, with the full roll out of equipment and staff training being completed within three years.

Read full article: Times Series.