999 calls held back so ambulance crews can have their tea breaks
Emergency calls are being held back from ambulance crews so they can have tea breaks, The News can reveal today.
Paramedics have said they are concerned because they often come off breaks to find calls waiting for them that they had not been alerted to.
The paramedics' union said the decision to hold 999 calls until after the breaks were completed was putting lives at risk.
The news comes as South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust carries out a review into its meal break policy – but the service refused to reveal any details of the probe.
The revelations come a month after The News reported how an injured 96-year-old woman from Gosport was left shivering on the pavement for over an hour, while an ambulance crew tucked into their meal just a few hundred yards away.
The ambulance service has confirmed that its investigation found that the only crew available in the area were on a break at the time, and the crew were not alerted until their break had finished.
A paramedic, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'The control room have been told not to send people out when they are on their meal break.
'But as soon as the break is over very, very often you get called to a job which came through to the control room earlier.
'Over the last 10 shifts I've done, on nine of them as soon as the break is over, five seconds later, you are called to an incident that came in 20 or 30 minutes before.
'If the crew is on a break, then the control room will just sit on it – this is putting lives at risk and it's bordering on criminal.
'Of course we'd like to have a break, but when it comes to someone needing our help, we'd much rather go and help the person.'
The ambulance service can ask crews if they are willing to be disturbed on their breaks, but this is not standard procedure.
Bob Cunningham, regional organiser for the GMB union, which represents paramedics, said: 'In my view it would be the management that are taking decisions to put people's lives as risk.
'I don't think anybody in their right mind would argue that they should be putting lives at risk, and the drivers aren't making the decision, it's the employer.'
Michelle Ullett, ambulance service spokeswoman, said: 'Our emergency operations centre have the option to offer staff to be available during their break time.
However should a crew be disturbed they will still require a further 30-minute break during which they are unavailable.
'During periods of high pressure it is possible that when crews return from a break there are calls outstanding, This is due to demand on services.
'It is essential that our crews have sufficient breaks during their shift period to ensure their own health and wellbeing is protected and that they are fit for duty.'
She added that negotiations to change the meal break policy across the south east area were taking place with staff representatives.
LATE-ARRIVING AMBULANCE IS BLAMED FOR ELDERLY MAN'S DEATH
In January 2008 last year a widow claimed her husband could still be alive today if an ambulance had not turned up late.
Grandfather-of-seven David Lowe, 77, collapsed yards from his home while taking his labrador Ellie for a walk.
Despite being found quickly by neighbours, his family said he died waiting in the shivering cold for an ambulance.
Paramedics should have arrived within eight minutes, but took double that – 16 minutes.
In February 2008 ambulance managers came under fire after it emerged they arrived late at a murder scene.
The ambulance took at least 11 minutes to reach victim Bill Wickham – failing to hit a target of reaching emergency calls within eight minutes.
The following month a blind 92-year-old waited in agony for more than four hours and a vehicle still hadn't arrived.
The call was classed as 'urgent', meaning an ambulance should have turned up within two hours under South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust guidelines.
But, after the 240-minute wait, the family cancelled the ambulance and drove the 92-year-old to hospital themselves.
Also in February 2008 a motorcyclist had to wait 45 minutes for an ambulance after a collision, even though he could see an ambulance station from where it happened.
Ralph Norster, 46, was writhing in pain with a leg broken in two places as he waited for help – despite the fact he was just 100 yards from the building.
In Mr Norster's case a paramedic arrived within 20 minutes but it took three-quarters of an hour for an ambulance to arrive.
RISKS ASSESSED
As soon as a caller dials 999 and asks for an ambulance, the case is in the hands of Hampshire Ambulance Service's control room.
Control room operators will establish the address of the call and then set about assessing how serious the incident is.
The operator will ask the caller a series of set questions and the answers are typed into a computer system.
When the control room workers have classified the incident, their computer system shows which ambulance can get to the scene in the fastest time and will contact the nearest crew to inform them of the incident.
But the control room is constantly assessing the calls – and if a more serious incident comes up and no other ambulances are available in the area, the ambulance will be diverted to deal with the more serious call.
The service also has rapid response vehicles which can be sent to incidents.
Ambulance crews have walkie talkies, and if they are away not in their ambulance – for instance, in the ambulance station – they will be told over the radio that a job is waiting.
They then go to the ambulance to check the computer console for details.
The News has learned that crew members who are on tea breaks are not told of incidents until after the break is over. When they return to their ambulances, they find details of any jobs waiting for them.
The government has set the target that paramedics should arrive at 75 per cent of life-threatening incidents within eight minutes.
But, as The News has revealed, under-pressure staff at the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust reached just 72.6 per cent of these calls in time in 2008/9.
For non life-threatening calls, the target is 19 minutes – but in 2008/09 service missed the government target and reached 88 per cent of these calls in the time frame. Their goal is 95 per cent.
Hampshire paramedic Simon Surplice, who speaks for the Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel, said this was due to a greater workload that has not been matched by an increase in resources.
He added: 'The demand is only going to get worse so we need to start handling more calls better and getting the message out to more people about when they should dial 999.'
Ambulance chiefs put the failure to meet government targets down to a new programme called Call Connect, where calls are timed from the moment they are answered.
After recruiting over 100 new staff over the past year, the most recent results – which date back only to April this year – show the service has managed to hit its target for Category A calls over the past couple of months.
It reached 77 per cent of immediately life-threatening incidents within eight minutes, but only 89 per cent of serious but non-life threatening incidents on time.
Michelle Ullett, spokeswoman for the south central ambulance service, said: 'Each target is equally important. However the Category A standard is for life-threatening emergencies and it is vital that we get to those patients as quickly as possible.
'We have made significant improvements to the service we provide to these patients and are now hitting over our 75 per cent performance standard.'
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