Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Berwick-upon-Tweed, has contacted the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeremy Hunt and asked for an urgent meeting to discuss the local ambulance crisis.
This latest call follows the incident on Friday when an ambulance crew took almost an hour to reach a four-year old boy, who was injured in a crash on Prince Edward Road and eventually airlifted to hospital by the Great North Air Ambulance Service. It also comes after the death of 16-year old Kyle Lowes in a road accident in January. There was a public outcry when it was revealed that paramedics had taken 26 minutes to arrive at the scene even though an ambulance team were present in Berwick at the time, because they had not been informed of the accident.
In February, Anne-Marie Trevelyan met with management at the North East Ambulance Service and discovered that a protocol negotiated with the unions, dating from the Agenda for Change agreement in 2004, states that calls will not be put through to the nearest paramedics, if they are on breaks, even for Category A calls, which relate to the most serious, life threatening emergencies. Anne-Marie has since called for an urgent review of this protocol.
Anne-Marie has also now met with union leaders and she is working with them to try to build a clear and honest picture of what is going on in our rural ambulance provision, locally in the North East and across England.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan said; "I am currently trying to ascertain the facts behind this latest incident and the precise reasons for the delay in reaching this four year old boy. This situation is deeply concerning, and I must emphasise that no blame should be attached to the paramedic teams. In this latest case I am told that a local GP assessed the situation as urgent following initial triaging as non life-threatening.
I am continuing to work for an urgent review of the protocols in place and the effectiveness of the triaging computer system which is now used at the 999 headquarters. I have asked Jeremy Hunt to meet with me so this situation can be urgently addressed".