London – 28th July, 2017: A former NHS call handler told the Daily Mail how health bosses refuse to send ambulances to people if their conditions aren't considered life-threatening.
Karen Frederick also said patients with "lower priority" problems such as back pain, stomach pain, falls or heavy bleeding were being assessed using smartphone apps such as Skype and Facetime.
This has led to elderly patients who have fallen being left for up to nine hours for an ambulance because they keep getting bumped down the queue, she alleged.
Video consultations are reportedly being trialled across England to relieve pressure on ambulance crews and A&E departments.
The former South Central Ambulance Service worker said other controversial practices included call handlers being stopped from giving out medical advice to heart attack patients because they don't have time.
Taxis were also said to be used to take patients to hospital - despite not carrying medical equipment.
While managers at the trust claimed patients were "overwhelmingly positive" about the use of taxis, most drivers are not first-aid trained.
South Central Ambulance Service, which serves Berks., Bucks., Hants. and Oxon., was founded in 2006 after four ambulance trusts merged.
According to its website it handles around 540,000 emergency and urgent calls every year.
A spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service told the Mail other trusts were also trying video consultations.
He said: "South Central Ambulance Service is currently trialling the use of technology to provide face-to-face consultations over the telephone.
"This enables both the patient and the trained clinician... to see each other.
"This gives the clinician more information when they are assessing the patient as they can see the patient and view the injury severity, symptoms, etc."
SCAS said high-risk patients receiving specialist advice such as CPR or child birth instructions would always be kept on the line with call handlers until an ambulance arrives.
If patients who dial 999 are classified as not being an emergency, they are transferred to a hub of paramedics and nurses who can call them back using a video app.
In June, South Central Ambulance Service - rated ‘good’ by an inspection watchdog - urged people only to call 999 for "life-threatening or serious emergencies" and said it was facing "extremely high demand during the warm weather".
Examples included chest pain, breathing difficulties, unconsciousness, severe blood loss, severe burns, choking, fitting or seizures and severe allergic reactions
Dr Richard Vautrey, interim chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, said apps were vulnerable to technical difficulties and could not be relied on for physical examinations.
An NHS England spokeswoman told The Sun last night: “It’s no secret that ambulance services across the country are under pressure due to rising numbers of calls, not helped by the need to meet response time targets which haven’t changed since the 70s often resulting in multiple crews being despatched for the same call unnecessarily.
“That’s why senior NHS doctors recently set out our intention to overhaul how ambulances are despatched following positive trials across the country, ensuring that more critically ill patients get the right help quickly, and putting an end to long waits for patients with less serious issues who are not currently covered by response targets.”
Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/4032091/patients-skype-ambulance-999-video-nhs/