Playing the system

I've just read an article about control room staff getting bonuses if they divert calls to other services and reduce ambulance responses. Surely the judgement should be about patient need and not influenced by personal gain? In my experience over the last year it can be hard enough to get an ambulance without this!

This got me thinking about one of those blogs I'd have written last year if I'd been more on the ball, so here goes.....

Wee bit of background first, my Stepfather isn't a well man (or a young man) with a list of medical complaints much larger than the space on the patient report form! My Stepbrother and Stepsister both work for the ambulance service, SB with many years experience as a paramedic and SS as a Tech. My Sister in Law (SB's wife) is a District Nurse.

Early last year SF was admitted to hospital with multiple infections resulting in Sepsis. It was touch and go for a bit and we thought it might finish him off, but he proved us all wrong, and was discharged from hospital far too early. He got slowly worse again, until it all came to a head the following weekend.

My SIL had visited, and came to get me. He wouldn't eat or drink, and nothing was coming out either, couldn't weight bear, his breathing was terrible, he was totally confused (not normal for him) and was seeing squirrels in boxes at one point. Just to clarify we don't keep squirrels as pets, in fact there weren't even boxes let alone squirrels in them! SIL called SB who was at work and said if he was her patient she'd have him admitted. So we were all agreed, call 999. The opinion of a paramedic and a nurse! If only it was that easy!

SIL spoke to control, explained who she was, oh no, you'll have to speak to a paramedic advisor, they'll call you back. So firstly I spoke to the extremely patronising man, who dismissed me and all I had to say, then SIL spoke to him, similar result. He told us the local A&E was rammed, a complete lie as SB had been there not twenty minutes before. He said the out of hours GP could get him admitted via the medical admissions unit as A&E wasn't the place for him. There's no such thing at our local hospital, medical admissions go through, yep you've guessed it, A&E! We gave up, and called SB for advice. His advice, be more economical with the truth!

Another call to control, to tell them his breathing was getting worse, she asked could she speak to the patient. Thankfully totally out of the blue he told her he had chest pains, first sensible thing he'd said all day! Queue fast response car!

Well you'd think our troubles were over, oh no! His obs weren't quite bad enough, his sats were just about OK, as was his BP etc, not good by any stretch, but not bad enough. Mr RRV then told us there was no point sending for an ambulance as A&E wouldn't accept him. Excuse me? What so they'd turn the crew round at the door and tell them to take him away would they? Cue sarcasm and withering look, it's a wonder his jacket didn't melt under my glare.

Time to name drop, "do you know SB and SS? That's their Dad, need to go and call SB". SIL and I left the room, came back to find him doing an ECG, oh he's in heart block, we'll have to admit him. So now all of a sudden he's poorly enough. He spent over a month in hospital in the end, but he wasn't really poorly was he?

What really makes my blood boil is how often I talk to friends and family and they've been out to someone with itchy teeth, or a sore foot, the list goes on and control staff will send a vehicle for that. Yet the day we need one for a genuinely poorly man, and have a healthcare professional there to give their opinion we get the Rottweiler who you'd think was personally paying for the diesel. The system must be broken?

I do know of others this has happened to also. A friend of mine had a similar battle not so long back for her Nan, she turned out to have a triple A!!

Rant over!!  I agree the 999 service is creaking and almost at breaking point due to responding to far too many people with itchy teeth and sore feet, winter vomitting bug etc, I get it I really do! I do apologise, but sometimes the system is crazy!