Paramedic UK » wales

No morphine and a six-hour wait for ambulance

Editor — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:28:47 +0000

Sally Evans endured a night of excruciating pain after shattering her leg in a fall – because an ambulance did not come for six-and-a-half hours.

The 46 year-old, from Portskewett suffered compound fractures to her tibia and fibula bones in her lower left leg after slipping from decking in the family garden.

Her husband Dave, who branded the service “pathetic and ridiculous”, called for an ambulance at around 1.15am on Sunday, July 5. But his wife was destined to spend the small hours in agony, broken bone pushing against her skin, because despite three more calls, no-one arrived until around 7.30am.

Even then, Mrs Evans was denied much-needed morphine because the ambulance crew did not have the correct key to unlock the container it was kept in.

via Free Press Series.

Ambulance flaws ‘costing lives’

Editor — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:37:42 +0000

A former head of the Welsh Ambulance Service says he is shocked at the way it is run, three years after he resigned claiming lives were at risk.

When Roger Thayne quit in 2006, he said “an earthquake” was needed to change the way the service was working.

He has now reviewed progress for BBC Wales’ Week In, Week Out programme and said it was “definitely costing lives”.

Health Minister Edwina Hart said there were “problems” but said they were working to improve the service.

via BBC NEWS

Six North Wales ambulance stations at risk

Editor — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:36:22 +0000

Six crumbling ambulance stations are at risk of being shut down because they’re in such bad repair.

A whopping £13m is needed to repair stations at Wrexham, Chirk, Flint, Holywell, Mold and Queensferry.

All six are at “serious risk of imminent breakdown”, a new report reveals.

Ambulance trust bosses say they may be forced to close one or more of the stations.

Read full article: Daily Post North Wales

300 addresses in Wales where ambulance crews face danger

Editor — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:12:06 +0000

Almost 300 addresses in Wales have been “flagged” as potential problems by the Welsh Ambulance Service, Plaid Cymru AM Janet Ryder has been told.

The risk of violent assaults has led to the police being required to attend many times, according to information given to the AM for North Wales.

Fifty four of the homes are in North Wales and mean ambulance crews may be advised to attend only with police present.

Read full article: Evening Leader.

Police cars ‘as ambulances’ fear

Editor — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:30:24 +0000

A chief constable has said he fears an injured person will die in the back of a police car heading for hospital due to poor ambulance response times.

Mick Giannasi of Gwent Police, was commenting after it emerged 92 people had to be taken to hospital by his officers over six months.

Read full article: BBC NEWS

Emergency services back free name plates campaign to help save lives

Editor — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:03:20 +0000

The Rural Development Agency Cadwyn Clwyd has secured £220,000 in funding from the Welsh Assembly Government to run the pilot project in rural Denbighshire.

The campaign has the full support of the three blue light emergency services who say that it will help save lives.

When responding to 999 calls, they say they are all too often hampered because so many farms and houses don’t have names or numbers on them.

Read full article: Denbighshire Free Press

Wales NHS slammed over data

Editor — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:31:38 +0000

Patient data recording is not a routine task the Welsh Audit Office (WAO) has said in a critical report on hospitals in Wales.

The report, ‘Unscheduled care – patient handovers at hospital emergency departments’ found that collecting data on patients is not a regular occurrence in A&E departments and often the equipment used to collect data does not work properly.

The report detailed staff at the Welsh hospitals who are brink of apathy when it comes to dealing with data entry. Staff do not understand that when a screen saver is showing it does not mean that the data terminal is out of service. These terminals are often place in improper locations such as secluded areas or ones that are extremely busy. Many staff therefore do not visit the terminals on a regular basis to enter patient data.

Overall staff attitudes are lagging. They feel “over-monitored” by the entry process while many do not understand why the data must be entered in the first place.

Read full article: Public Service

Wales NHS staff faced 8,000 acts of violence

Editor — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:29:08 +0000

Close circuit television cameras are to be placed in four Welsh hospitals to help protect staff from violence and aggression.

Latest figures for 2006-07 show that there were 8,466 incidents of violence against NHS staff, ranging from verbal abuse to serious physical assaults.

Tina Donnelly, Director of the Royal College of Nursing Wales, said: “Hopefully, a strong message of encouragement will be given to the public to support nurses and other NHS staff and also an equally strong message that will deter potential offenders from verbally or physically attacking staff who are there to provide healthcare.”

During a 12-month trial, CCTV will be installed in clinical and non-clinical areas in four major accident and emergency departments and some vehicles from one ambulance station.

Read full article: News Wales

A&E transfer records criticised

Editor — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:05:12 +0000

Hospitals must keep better records of how long it takes to hand patients from ambulances into A&E departments, says the Auditor General for Wales.

In a report, Jeremy Colman said many patients have to wait too long in ambulances before being transferred into the care of hospital staff.

This can leave vehicles queuing outside A&E when they are needed elsewhere, he added.

He urged hospitals and the ambulance trust to work to improve the problem.

The report found that while there have been some positive steps to improving the handover process, the true extent of the delays is unclear.

Handover times are not being consistently recorded due to problems with new data terminals, staff resistance in using them and uncertainty over the process of recording information, it said.

Read full article: BBC NEWS.

Praise for North Wales patient transport service

Editor — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:13:05 +0000

A team well known to patients across North Wales celebrated their fourth anniversary last month.

The four strong team at the Welsh Ambulance Services’ North Wales Non Emergency Transport Booking Centre (NET Centre) organises transport to and from hospitals and clinics for patients attending appointments and for those being transferred from one hospital to another.

NET Centre Manager Beth Doyle said: “The team plays an important part in getting people to their hospital and clinical appointments. They are the first port of call for patients enquiring about non-emergency transport and we can get up to 300 calls a day on some occasions.

Read full article: Your Vale