Paramedic UK » Scotland

New laws forcing ambulances to meet 999 response times?

Editor — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:08:17 +0000

An MSP is calling for new laws forcing ambulances to meet 999 response times.

Margaret Curran was shocked to find crews have “no duty to turn up within any particular timeframe”.

Scottish Ambulance Service bosses made the revelation while being sued over the 2003 death of Nikki Aitken, 15.

She died of an epileptic fit after waiting 32 minutes at her home in Ibrox, Glasgow, as three crews sat idle nearby.

via The Sunday Mail.

Ambulance station swine flu alert

Editor — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:43:06 +0000

Ambulance crews were warned to stay away from one of their Dundee stations after a possible swine flu case was transported to hospital.

Access to the West School Road depot was restricted for a couple of hours on Sunday night after the patient was taken to Ninewells.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said it was a “precautionary measure.”

Read full article: BBC NEWS

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

Emergency response rates meet target

Editor — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:23:34 +0000

The First Minister welcomed the news but critics pointed out that the figures included untrained volunteers who attend the scenes of medical emergencies.

Ambulance response times are increasing “all the time”, Alex Salmond has claimed.

The First Minister also backed the use of volunteer “first responders” in official figures, despite recent concerns.

A target of reaching 75 per cent of life-threatening incidents within eight minutes was met for the first time by the ambulance service in March 2009.

Mr Salmond told MSPs: “The figures for the Scottish Ambulance Service are increasing all the time.”

He said that first responders have always been part of the official statistics.

He added: “I do think that the contribution of first responders should be included in the statistics as they form part of the overall resource managed and monitored by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Read full article: stv News

Woman Left Unfed For 20 Hours Gets NHS Apology

Editor — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:58:23 +0000

A health board has been ordered to apologise after leaving a paralysed woman without food or water for 20 hours, in one of a series of errors in her treatment.

Both Shetland Health Board and the Scottish Ambulance Service were criticised by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman over the treatment of the woman, referred to as Mrs C, who had a stroke in 2004 which left her paralysed and unable to speak or swallow.

Read full article: The Herald

Elderly ‘left on A & E trolleys’

Editor — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:37:29 +0000

Concerns have been raised for the welfare of elderly patients left on hospital trolleys for hours while they wait to be taken back to care homes.

A consultant at Ninewells in Dundee has said too many pensioners are taken to A & E at night when they could be treated in their care home by a nurse or GP.

Dr Bill Morrison said some spend several hours on trolleys while they wait for ambulances to take them home.

He said often the patient had been in hospital for a minor problem.

‘More humane’

A patient transport service does not run at Ninewells overnight so patients often have to be taken back to their care home by ambulance.

If the ambulance is at an emergency it can be some time before it can collect the patient, who could be admitted to a short-stay ward or put on a trolley.

Read full article: BBC NEWS.

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.