Ambulances could be driven by untrained volunteers or the military as one NHS trust scrambles to plug staff shortages
- The East of England Ambulance Services Trust is considering the drastic move
- It says it must consider ‘every alternative’ to be able to support patients
- Community first responders, who are not trained or paid, could be asked to drive
- The trust says it would be for low priority patients, but paramedics are ‘horrified’
Untrained volunteers or members of the military could be put behind the wheel of ambulances in a bid to plug driver shortages.
The plan has been put forward by the East of England Ambulance Services Trust, which said it could draft in non-paramedics to keep its ambulances on the road because it does not have enough staff.
The trust has one of the worst response times in the country and a senior paramedic has said they are ‘horrified’ by the drastic plan, which they say could put patients’ lives at risk.
They suggest a patient could take a turn for the worse when the ambulance arrived, meaning an untrained driver would have to blue light them to hospital.
But the trust has argues volunteers have helped take care of patients for years, that they could offer different skills and knowledge and they would not be used in emergencies.
The trust says it will only go ahead with the plan if it has the support of the community first responders who could be called upon in the winter.
If given the go ahead there are fears it could be rolled out across the country.
The East of England Ambulance Services Trust is considering using unpaid community first responders to drive its ambulances as it says it must ‘consider every alternative’ to coping with staffing pressures
An internal email was seen by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), in which the trust suggested volunteers could step up to drive ambulances.
It said volunteers would only be used for less serious cases and not emergencies and told the HSJ it would also consider using other emergency services and the military during the winter to cope with a lack of staff.
However, one paramedic who works and the trust and wasn’t named, told the HSJ they and colleagues are ‘absolutely horrified’ by the ‘desperate’ plan.
-
Is your man’s penis a grower or a shower? Study reveals most…
Measles warning to pregnant women: Midwives urge…
More than 1,000 people were killed by Hurricane Maria due to…
A bigger belly increases your risk of dementia because fat…
Share this article
They also said paramedics would be concerned about working with people who weren’t qualified.
‘Does it pose a risk to patient safety? Without a doubt,’ they said, according to The Guardian.
‘What happens if the patient suddenly deteriorates and needs to be blue lighted to hospital?
‘Paramedics want to be working with someone who is qualified’
‘The paramedic in the back can’t do it. They need to be attending the patient. The staff are very against it.
‘As a paramedic you want to be working with someone who is qualified and knows what they are doing.
A&E AMBULANCE DELAYS PUT LIVES AT RISK
Thousands of ambulances were held up at A&E units every day last winter, preventing them from responding to life-threatening emergencies, figures revealed in April.
In January, February and March – during the NHS’s winter crisis – almost 600,000 ambulances faced delays of more than 15 minutes while patients were handed over to hospital staff.
Delays of 15 minutes or more are considered a threat to life due to them preventing ambulance staff from responding to critical medical emergencies, such as stabbings and heart attacks.
Ambulance crews in England alone were forced to care for 186,000 patients either in the back of vehicles or hospital corridors for half an hour or more between last November and March.
This came during the NHS’ winter crisis, which saw chiefs demand radical action to free up beds and medical staff due to casualty units being under ‘extreme and sustained’ pressure with flu cases.
‘I have never heard anything like this in all my years. CFRs fulfil a very important role in their respective communities, but they should be there in their communities, not on frontline ambulances.
‘I told colleagues at other trusts about the plans and they were absolutely horrified.’
Volunteers could drive qualified crew to low priority cases
The staff email suggested volunteers could ‘potentially drive qualified crew members and patients’ around in the ambulances, but would be reserved for ‘low acuity’ situations.
For example, they could be dispatched if someone has a fall but is not injured and just needs help getting back to their feet.
The community first responders are people who can administer emergency first aid in their community before an ambulance arrives, but are not fully qualified medics.
They can simply be unpaid, first-aid trained members of the public with no medical background, and include St John Ambulance volunteers and some who are coordinated by local NHS bodies.
Trust ‘must consider every alternative’ to support patients
The East of England Ambulance Services Trust said the use of volunteers is widespread in countries like the US, Canada and Australia.
In a statement it said: ‘Many people who volunteer and work in patient transport services bring previous skills and knowledge that can contribute in a different way to the delivery of services during times of extreme service pressure.
‘While our long-term plan is delivered, it is imperative that the trust consider every alternative to maximise existing and alternative resources to support our patients across the winter period.’
Source: Read Full Article