Patients are being routinely failed by an ambulance service on its knees according to whistleblowers who today lay bare the terrifying full extent of a crisis engulfing the frontline service.
More than 100 exasperated 999 workers claim members of the public are DYING because over-stretched and ill-equipped ambulance crews cannot get to them in time.
The Sunday Post joined forces with Britain’s biggest trade union, Unite, to give ambulance staff a unique chance to blow open the reality of their working lives and how their fight to help “with one arm tied behind their backs” is impacting on everyone.Emergency service crews in their own words – click hereThe mercy crews’ shocking testimony reveals for the first time the true level of pressure on the beleaguered Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), as workers battle soaring demand and swingeing cuts.
Our probe has revealed worrying claims including:The number of serious blunders involving ambulance staff soaring. Ambulances responding to 999 calls without life-saving kit. How one patient died after crews were diverted to treat drunks. Emergency call handlers battling backlogs of 999 calls with no ambulances to send to them. Morale hitting rock bottom with as many as 50% of staff planning to leave within the next five years; Stressed staff routinely working dangerously long hours and missing breaks.Jamie McNamee, a paramedic in Glasgow, painted a picture of a service at breaking point.
“Staff feel physically and mentally abused as a result of resource management and deployment,” he said.
The national lead steward for Unite said he and other co-workers face “an ever-increasing workload” and emergency calls “that are being generated by systems that are so risk-averse they are straddling the borders of taxi requests in the guise of emergency calls”.
He said the system as it stands is “to the detriment of genuine patients in need of assistance”.
The Sunday Post via Unite sent a survey to SAS staff, including paramedics, ambulance technicians, call handlers and patient transport staff.
Of the 116 who replied, 97% said the job had become more pressurised over the last 12 months and 95% said it had become more stressful.
It also revealed just 33% felt they had the time to do their job to the best of their ability and 36% said they had time to do their job safely.
Meanwhile, a massive 94% said they had witnessed occasions when patient safety had been compromised due to a lack of resources. A third said they had taken time off sick due to stress in the last 12 months and 50% said they did not see themselves working for the service in five years’ time.
Our damning research has been backed up by the SAS’ own records, obtained by The Sunday Post through freedom of information powers. It revealed in 2010/11, some 240 employees took stress leave but by 2014/15 it had soared 30% to 313, while the number of working days lost to stress increased 12% over the period, with 14,313 lost last year alone.
And we have uncovered evidence the increased workload is leading to more major mistakes, with five serious untoward incidents logged in 2010/11, which soared to 22 in 2013/14 and 15 up to February in 2014/15.
But the most startling aspect of the unique snapshot poll was the emotional, hand-written accounts of staff at the end of their tether.
The accounts make for grim reading and are sure to shock readers, politicians and campaigners alike.
One paramedic recounted the tragic case of an elderly woman who died after crews were diverted away to treat drunk people.
The woman was suffering breathing difficulties but by the time the crew was clear to get to her, she had gone into cardiac arrest and could not be saved.
Emergency dispatchers also revealed their despair at having as many as six 999 calls backed up for as long as an hour each a stricken patient desperate for help.
But perhaps most often, ambulance staff spoke of gruelling shifts which saw staff routinely working hours extra most days, often missing vital breaks.
Many claim it is only a matter of time before the worn-out workforce cracks and there is a major accident.
Their plight is offset against a backdrop of budgetary and performance expectations. At present, the Scottish Government dictates ambulances must get to 75% of the most urgent calls within eight minutes.
But despite the tireless efforts of SAS staff, it fell short in 2013/14 with 73.9% of call-outs answered in time, down from 74.7% in 2012/13. And Mr McNamee claimed the problem boils down to cash.
He added: “The Scottish Government Health Directorates needs to properly fund the SAS to the levels that they obviously expect them to perform to, as reflected in the demands and expectations placed upon the ambulance service.
“The SAS continues to modernise and diversify in the face of ever-increasing demands and workloads,
“It is long past the time for the SAS to be given the level of funding merited by an organisation that is making such a significant and positive contribution to the wider success of the health service in Scotland.
“There is an inability, due to demands, to treat staff with care and compassion in relation to welfare and rest during the course of any working shift.”
The budgetary constraints on the service are huge. SAS chiefs have been tasked with saving £6.7 million this year from specific parts of the service, including estates and facilities, procurement and its workforce.
While it has managed to shave £2m from its costs in the first three months of the year, it is already £183,000 behind target and admits it has faced “unforeseen pressures”.
Meanwhile, its latest accounts also reveal bosses had forecast a revenue budget overspend of £400,000 by June but its costs, for day-to-day running of the service, actually over-ran by £848,000.
Dr Jean Turner, of the Scotland Patients Association, said The Sunday Post investigation paints a stark portrait of a service “we all rely on”.
“It needs all heads around the table to see how we can relieve the stress on the service and provide better outcomes for patients,” she said.
Scottish Labour public health spokesperson Dr Richard Simpson said: “The figures produced by The Sunday Post are hugely concerning. It seems like every week we learn of a new pressure point on our NHS. Paramedics do incredible, life-saving work.
“It is already a high-pressure job, but for effectively every respondent to say the job has gotten more stressful in the last year is shocking and suggests a lack of resources and support for staff. There is a clear problem here.”
Case study
A dad whose son died after paramedics took more than 45 minutes to arrive has demanded a public inquiry into the state of the service.
In the early hours of April 30, 2011, Martin and Lisa Gray, 36, found their three-year-old son Martyn gargling blood and not breathing.
The family who lived near Crieff, Perthshire, called an ambulance but it took nearly 50 minutes to arrive and the tragic toddler could not be saved.
Last night Martin described the testimony presented today by The Sunday Post as “shocking”.
In his case it emerged a crew stationed 10 minutes were on a statutory break and the crew from Stirling which took the call got lost.
Martin and Lisa led a crusade for change which resulted in a law that allows rest breaks to be interrupted for life-threatening incidents.
They also demanded the Scottish Ambulance Service be bolstered and in 2012 it was announced an extra 150 jobs were being created, thanks to a £5m-a-year funding pledge.
They were victories which Mr Gray thought would stop any other family experiencing such a tragedy.
But he claims those promises have been broken.
“I do feel let down, we thought we had managed to sort it out but obviously not.
“There should be a public inquiry.”
Missing equipment
Frontline staff made worrying claims ambulances regularly attend 999 calls with life-saving equipment and medicines either missing or broken.
Many reported being unable to clean or thoroughly stock check their ambulances, or clean them adequately after transporting patients.
Among those who reported vital items missing was one paramedic who said they had attended jobs with “equipment missing or no drugs in response bag”.
Another revealed they were being forced to hand over to the next shift without checking the vehicle, and had been “forced to compromise” when the equipment they needed was missing.
One paramedic also hit out saying some crews did not have adequate access to a specialist piece of kit known as an intraosseous drill.
It is used to drill into bone marrow to supply medicine during heart attacks.
However the fed up whistleblower claimed due to a lack of “funds” he knew of ambulances going to “jobs” without the life-saving devices.
The Sunday Post put the drill claim to the Scottish Ambulance Service.
They said the decision as to whether they should be stocked was under review.
A spokesman said: “The Service operates within robust national clinical standards for the delivery of pre-hospital care and continuously reviews the equipment levels on ambulances as new solutions become available.
“Intraosseous devices were rolled out for use on all Paramedic Response Units last year and there is a review ongoing that will determine if they should be included as standard on all ambulances.”
Service ‘working harder than ever’
Bosses at the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) last night launched a staunch defence of the vital lifeline after The Sunday Post presented its evidence.
The service said it was doing more than ever to ensure staff were healthy and happy, while meeting increased demand for services.
A spokesman said: “Ambulance staff are working harder than ever to respond to increases in demand and last year attended nearly 750,000 emergency incidents.
“The average response time for a life-threatening emergency was 6.6 minutes and continued investment in clinical skills and equipment resulted in more lives being saved.”
Responding to concerns over stress leave and absence, the SAS said it provides rigorous support for those who need help.
“The Service employs a range of measures that are rigorously applied to manage sickness absence, including fast-track physiotherapy and employee counselling and support services,” the spokesman said.
“Managers work closely with trade union partners and staff to develop strategies to prevent stress and promote well-being.”
Meanwhile, SAS moved to reassure people that staff are encouraged to report concerns they may have regarding operations, clinical care, patient safety or their own welfare, so any “learning can be implemented”.
Responding to concerns about a lack of breaks for frontline staff, the SAS said the policy had been developed to protect patient safety and staff welfare.
The spokesman added: “Currently 81% of breaks are taken at the appropriate time but there are occasions when, due to increases in emergency demand, the break comes later.”
Meanwhile the Scottish Government defended its funding of the service.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to support the Ambulance Service and has allocated resource increases in both 2014/15 and 2015/16, which has allowed additional staff to be recruited and trained year on year since September 2007.
“In February we announced an additional £2m for the SAS to help develop the skills and capabilities of the ambulance workforce and support the service to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time.”
Service ‘misuses money’
Ambulance service bosses have been accused of wasting cash on steel toe-capped shoes for staff who answer phones.
One call handler, who claimed to have witnessed “unacceptable timescales for ambulances due to a lack of resources”, said it was a “misuse of public money to issue control room staff with a full set of green uniforms, including steel toe-capped shoes”.
The ambulance service said staff “are issued with one uniform bought through an NHS Scotland national uniform contract”.
Their spokesman said it minimised costs incurred “when staff move roles”.
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe