999 staff shortage spark 730,000 call outs without a fully-trained paramedic
Hundreds of thousands of 999 calls are not being attended by a fully-trained paramedic due to staff shortages, their union has warned.
The figures are revealed as emergency departments face “one of the most difficult starts to the year” ever as junior doctors start an unprecedented six-day strike from Wednesday. Data revealed under Freedom of Information laws show seven out of 10 ambulance trusts in England showed 732,369 health emergency callouts were not attended by a fully qualified paramedic last year.
Junior doctors are starting the longest-ever NHS strike after a decade of below-inflation pay awards that have resulted in dangerous shortages of medics on wards. The industrial action from 7am today(Wed) to 7am next Tuesday could see up to half of the medical workforce on picket lines and comes at one of the busiest times of the year for the NHS.
Hospitals are grappling with increased pressure from winter viruses and a rise in people coming forward who delayed seeking help over the holidays. Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “With the NHS in the grip of peak winter pressure throughout the system, this week’s strike by junior doctors couldn’t come at a worse time.
“Trusts have planned thoroughly to keep patients safe and to provide critical and emergency care but the scale of the challenge in an unprecedented six-day strike will be bigger than ever before. We can’t afford another year of strikes. Ministers and unions must lose no time in getting get back round the negotiating table and finding a way to end the walkouts.”
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The latest available data for the year of 2021/22 suggest each regional ambulance service is on average now responding to 999 calls without a paramedic more than 100,000 times a year. Instead of fully-trained paramedics, these callouts are usually only attended by ambulance technicians, unions said.
Rachel Harrison, the GMB National Secretary, said: “The fact that hundreds of thousands of patients, some of them involved in life-threatening incidents, are not being attended by a trained paramedic shows the perilous state our ambulance service is in.
“Ambulance workers have faced more than a decade of underfunding and real terms pay cuts, while their workloads have increased exponentially. It’s no wonder they’re leaving in droves.”
It comes after desperate ambulance bosses called on hospitals to treat more patients in corridors as one in eight 999 patients spent more than an hour waiting outside A&Es in ambulances during the build-up to Christmas. Care and medical technicians traditionally work with paramedics but can sometimes be a “single responder”.
Paramedics are degree-qualified and act as the senior clinician able to diagnose and treat a wider range of illnesses and injuries from babies to the elderly. In many cases they will treat patients at home to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.
East Midlands Ambulance Service had the highest figure, with more than 220,000 callouts not attended by a paramedic. The last time the data was released for 2016/17 non-paramedic ambulances were dispatched on average 98,000 times per ambulance trust. The more recent data shows this increased to 105,000 per trust annually.
The data comes after the Tories recently introduced draconian anti-strike laws that included so-called minimum service levels of 80% or normal staffing during any action. It means workers who legally vote to strike could be forced to work or be sacked.
Unions say ambulance services can often fall short of 80% staffing levels on non-strike days due to sickness and unfilled vacancies. Ms Harrison added: “This glaring lack of capacity also makes a mockery of the Government’s minimum service levels.
“Our health service operates at unsafe staffing levels every day – and harmful attacks on workers’ rights won’t change that. GMB members across UK ambulance trusts tell us unplanned solo responders are a real problem- mainly due to staff shortage and cancelled overtime.
“They describe the idea of doctors attending with ambulance crews as a ‘myth’. The recruitment and retention crisis means there aren’t enough paramedics to cover all ambulance callouts.”
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NHS England said “most ambulance call outs will be attended by a fully qualified paramedic”.
A spokeswoman added: “There will be occasions where other dedicated healthcare professionals such as a doctor will arrive instead, so a patient can be promptly treated at the scene. This happens in health systems around the world.
“Thanks to hardworking staff, waiting times for ambulances have reduced in recent months and are now 10 minutes quicker than a year ago, even as the NHS faced increased demand compared with last year.”
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