South West ambulance delays expected to continue

There is "no light at the end of the tunnel" as long ambulance waiting times continue across south west England, a trade union says.

Delays are being blamed on ambulances being tied up waiting to hand over patients at hospitals.

Shane Clark, from Unison, said it was having a "demoralising" and "upsetting" impact on ambulance staff.

South Western Ambulance Service said it was experiencing "very high demand" across the region.

Mr Clark, the trade union's lead steward for Gloucestershire, said the festive period was "always busy" but this year has been "particularly bad".

"I think if we have some cold weather as we move into January and February, I really don't see any light at all at the end of the tunnel, all I see is more ambulances queuing outside of emergency departments," he said.

"When you're waiting with a patient in the back of an ambulance for four, five, six, seven hours, it is really, really sad.

"I didn't join the ambulance service for this, my members didn't join the ambulance service for this, we are there to provide a gold standard of care."

He said neither patients nor ambulance staff believe the back of an ambulance is the best environment to get care but delays in handovers meant that was the situation they are in.

"It is very, very demoralising," he said.

"All we want to do is get the best standard of care for that patient in the best environment possible. We want to get them into that hospital.

"When we are on the back of an ambulance with that patient, that is one ambulance that is not responding to life threatening calls.

"And it is not unusual to see 17, 18, 19, sometimes higher, ambulances waiting at that front door to emergency department... and that has a knock on effect to those wait times.

"You hear on the radio a general broadcast going out, CPR in progress, our most unwell patients, and we have no one to send."

He urged the public to use the 999 service correctly and to remember they can also use NHS 111, pharmacies and GP services.

Speaking in November, South Western Ambulance Service chief executive Will Warrender said it was "recruiting more people" after receiving "additional funding" from NHS England.

The trust added in a statement at the time that delays were reaching intolerable levels and it was working hard with the NHS to reduce them.

Responding to the comments made by Mr Clark, the trust said: "We are experiencing very high demand on our 999 emergency service across the south west area and are asking people to welcome in the start of 2022 safely, and not make any unnecessary 999 calls.

"It is vital that we don't receive unnecessary calls, so that we and our NHS colleagues can prioritise those most in need."

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