Thursday, March 10, 2011

** Scottish Ambulance Service pundits appalled by goof-ups

** Two UK medics sacked after misdiagnosing patient who later died

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** Politicians and others are calling upon the Scottish Ambulance Service to improve EMS, after a report revealed the organization had seriously goofed up with patients at least eight times in the last four years. The Scotsman (March 8) said among the incidents cited was a patient falling from an ambulance, medics declining to respond to emergency calls during breaks, and failing to properly staff a standby fire response. Scottish Patients Association spokesman Margaret Watt called the report staggering, saying the ambulance service clearly is not learning its lesson from such failures. Conservative health spokesman Murdo Fraser MSP concurred, saying EMS must be more diligent in ensuring patient safety is not jeopardized by slack service. An ambulance service spokesman, meanwhile, seemed to disregard the seriousness of the report, saying every patient is treated as a priority.

** A pair of Portslade paramedics are out of a job, after an internal investigation revealed apparent wrongdoing. The Brighton News (Emily Walker/March 5) said the duo–Wayne Newton and Rob Broadway–were given the heave ho after leaving a cardiac arrest patient whom they said had only suffered a chest infection. Instructing the man to call his GP the next day, the two were parked outside the man’s home when he succumbed to a fatal heart attack shortly afterwards. The patient, Michael Bradford, was engaged to be married and was expected to walk the aisle in a few weeks.