{"id":6210,"date":"2015-10-09T14:10:14","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T13:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=6210"},"modified":"2015-10-12T12:27:17","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T11:27:17","slug":"on-the-brink-of-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=6210","title":{"rendered":"On the brink of crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ambulance response times in England have reached record poor levels, with ambulances arriving late to more than 2,600 life-threatening emergencies every day, figures have revealed.
\nIn the last year alone, ambulances failed to meet the eight minute target response time for more than 1m life-threatening calls \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the worst performance since records began in 2010.
\nTen out of 12 ambulance trusts failed to meet the 75 per cent target of arriving within 8 minutes for the most serious Red 1 calls \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which include cardiac arrests \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and Red 2 calls, which include strokes.
\nAugust figures show that across ambulance trusts, only 73.6 per cent of Red 1 calls were attended to within 8 minutes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the worst performance in 5 months, while only 69.7 per cent of Red 2 calls had ambulances arrive within the target time \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a drop from 70.6 per cent in July.
\nThe worsening figures reflect a health service that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at breaking point, with a growing ageing population adding to the pressure, as well as patients calling 999 when they are not able to see a GP.
\nParamedics have also said that the controversial 111 emergency number, set up to replace NHS Direct, has also exacerbated the situation.
\nEarlier this year, a 111 call handler reported<\/a> a severe shortage of medically trained staff to support call handlers who have little medical training \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a situation that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lead to ambulances being called out unnecessarily, further adding to the strain on ambulance services.
\nIn denial<\/strong><\/em>
\nUnite head of health Barrie Brown pointed to the large increase in demand in the last year as a main driver of worsening wait times.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere has been a massive increase in activity over the last 12 months, particularly over the summer,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted.\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis has led to a massive exodus of qualified staff who have finally called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098time\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on high levels of stress, unsympathetic managements and eroding incomes in real terms.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe usual culprits are bed blocking at hospitals and the fact that our members do what they are asked to do and keep people out of hospital which actually takes much longer to achieve \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so there are fewer people available to answer the constant stream of increased calls,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.
\nBrown also blamed health secretary Jeremy Hunt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lack of leadership and failure to understand the seriousness of the pressure on NHS finances.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe crisis in the ambulance service is yet another example of health secretary Jeremy Hunt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ostrich-like behaviour whenever another melt-down occurs in the NHS \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he needs to get a grip what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening across England,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Brown said.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHunt is in denial about the financial seriousness of the situation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI know that he thinks we should all work as hard as the Chinese, but our members are already working flat-out and chalking up loads of overtime.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nBrown noted that the situation in London has become so bad that the ambulance service is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpoaching paramedics from Australia and New Zealand\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 in order to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmaintain creaking staffing levels of service.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nAll-time low morale<\/strong><\/em>
\nNHS paramedic and Unite member Debbie Wilkinson, who is also chair of the National Ambulance Committee told UNITElive this summer<\/a> the incredible strain paramedics are under, including constant overtime shifts, and a doubling of workloads over the past year with no extra help.
\nCoupled with pay restraint, reduced pension entitlements, and a stressful workplace in which bullying is commonplace \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all while facing skyrocketing living costs \u00e2\u20ac\u201cis it any wonder that paramedics and other health professionals are leaving in droves?
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bStaff morale is at an all-time low,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Wilkinson said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think people realise how hard people work in the NHS and how poorly paid they actually are.<\/p>\n

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“Frontline services are already being severely affected; patients are waiting longer to be seen. Piling more pressure on NHS staff will only make the situation worse.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nLabour health spokesperson Heidi Alexander emphasised the absolute necessity of meeting wait time targets.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor people who have suffered cardiac arrest or a stroke, every second counts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe quicker a patient receives treatment the more likely they are to survive. These figures raise real concerns that lives are being put at risk.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nAlexander added that government cuts were to blame for the deteriorating performance.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe ambulance service is under pressure as a direct result of decisions the government has made,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is yet further evidence that Tory health policies are failing patients. With winter approaching, and ministers still planning to make \u00c2\u014122bn worth of efficiency savings, the NHS is on the brink of a deeply worrying crisis.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nThe Department of Health has estimated that 3,000 lives a year could be saved if all ambulances arrived within eight minutes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ambulance response times in England have reached record poor levels, with ambulances arriving late to more than 2,600 life-threatening emergencies every day, figures have revealed. In the last year alone, ambulances failed to meet the eight minute target response time for more than 1m life-threatening calls \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the worst performance since records began in 2010. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[161,29,75],"wps_subtitle":"Ambulance service at breaking point","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6210"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6221,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6210\/revisions\/6221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}