Sunday Sun
DURHAM, England — North police officers are having to drive people to hospital themselves because they are waiting too long for ambulances. The revelation is the latest to come from a Sunday Sun investigation into ambulance delays.
We can reveal that officers in Northumbria have been dealing with incidents involving delayed ambulances up to around 100 times a week.
Officers themselves are unofficially recording the number of occasions where they deem the period they have been waiting for the ambulance to arrive to be “too long”.
And in some cases have taken the decision to drive people to hospital themselves.
Unions say it shows the service is at “breaking point” with tragedies unavoidable unless the Government stops slashing their budgets.
The Sunday Sun discovered that concerns were first raised by Northumbria Police officers in October last year and reached a peak just before Christmas when in one week 99 incidents of delayed ambulances were recorded by officers.
Numbers then fell to around 50 a week and 30 on another, but in recent weeks are said to have been creeping up again. The vast majority are in the south of the command area.
Police chiefs from both Northumbria Police and Durham Constabulary have met with representatives from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) to discuss the issue.
Northumbria police and crime commissioner Vera Baird said: “A police officer will not leave an injured person and will wait until they can hand over to the ambulance service.
“Any delay is wasting their time and means that they are not able to get back to their job of fighting crime.
“The police has suffered 20% cuts in the last three years and this has put stress on officer numbers. Issues like this are going to place them under more strain.
“There is also the issue that officers are being pressured into taking a gamble on whether it is best to wait longer for the ambulance or take the to hospital themselves. “They are all trained, but just in first aid, and it’s impossible for them to know if they are doing the right thing.
“The issue has been raised at management briefings and it is on the agenda for future meetings.
“We have a good working relationship with the North East Ambulance Service and understand that they are facing national and regional challenges. Northumbria Police are working closely with the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) to address any issues in our region.”
Chief Superintendent Gordon Milward, of Northumbria Police said that what was once the exception is now becoming something much more frequent.
“Ambulances seem to be taking longer to get to the scene and police officers are finding themselves in positions where they are having to take decisions they previously wouldn’t have had to make,” he said.
“For example, if an elderly person has fallen out in the cold, should they leave them and wait for an ambulance or should they move them or take them to hospital themselves.”
Ch Supt Milward confirmed that there have been cases where officers have taken the injured to hospital in a police vehicle.
He added: “It does seem to be a greater trend south of the river and I understand from the ambulance service that this is due to turnaround times at some of the casualty departments in that area.
“It is difficult as people have different conceptions of how long it should take for an ambulance to attend. But we have started to record the number of incidents where an officer has judged it to be too long.”
Gordon Armstrong vice chairman of the Northumbria Police Federation told the Sunday Sun that the issue was particularly bad over Christmas, but that it’s not a problem that is going away and is happening most on weekends.
“Waiting for ambulances is also time consuming and is preventing officers from attending incidents elsewhere,” he said.
“The Government needs to address this as a matter of urgency.”
A NEAS spokesman said: “The North East Ambulance Service has a great working relationship with the police. The first priority for all emergency services is the welfare and safety of the public, and all emergency services work closely to achieve that.
“Clinically, this was one of the most demanding winters of recent years for the NHS, with demand in December and January particularly busy.”
Lord Brian McKenzie of Framwellgate, a former senior police officer with Durham Constabulary, said: “The emergency services need to work together as a team and if one part of that team is not performing then I think it is understandable the other members will complain about it. It is only by working together that they will get the job done. I support the police in raising this issue if they are having to go out to a scene without the equipment to properly look after the injured party, ultimately it is the patient who will suffer.
“I applaud the representations being made and hope those in charge of the ambulance service respond accordingly.”
Cleveland and Durham hit problems CLEVELAND and Durham forces also said they have experienced problems with delayed ambulances.
Cleveland Police Assistant Chief Constable Sean White said: “We did experience over the Christmas and New Year periods of 2011 and 2012, some problems with availability of ambulances to respond to urgent incidents. “We met with the North East Ambulance Service very early in the new year and were part of wider discussions across the NHS.
The problem seems to centre around the Accident & Emergency units at the University Hospital of North Tees and the James Cook University Hospital, and relates to the availability of admission to those units. “I’ve held a meeting to review the problem.
The situation as being experienced by Cleveland Police has eased but has not been totally eradicated. We’ll continue to talk to the NEAS and the wider NHS and monitor and collate details of incident where it has not been possible to provide an ambulance. “We will continue to work with others to seek a longer term and permanent resolution.”
A spokesperson for Durham Police said: “We have had similar issues to other forces in that there have been occasions when police officers have taken people to hospital because the ambulance service has been delayed. “The problems were experienced during the festive period in particular. We have had two meetings with the North East Ambulance Service and are currently working in partnership with them to resolve those problems.
“Progress has been made and we are continuing to examine systems and procedures to address the matter and take business forward.”
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