Ambulance staffing 'puts lives at risk' Patients have been saved, says service.

Byline: Helen Rae

SENIOR paramedics and union bosses say lives are being put at risk in the North East by the use of "inadequately-trained" ambulance crews.

Concerns have been raised that Emergency Care Support Workers (ECSWs) - who are trained for up to nine weeks to administer basic emergency treatment - are being called to cases without a paramedic where their skills are not deemed enough to deal with the emergency.

In Ryhope, Sunderland, as many as three ambulance crews manned only by ECSWs - with no paramedic or advanced technician on board - regularly attend incidents.

But health chiefs at the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) say the deployment of ECSWs as a first-response team has dramatically increased the survival rate of cardiac arrest.

Trevor Johnson, Unison's lead officer for health, said: "The dispatching of ECSWs without a paramedic is something we have been concerned about for some time and we're currently in discussions with the North East Ambulance Service about the issue.

"We are not confident that an ECSW attending a call on their own has all the necessary skills to deal with the medical situation they are presented with and, as a result, lives could be put at risk."

He added: "It is a problem that needs to be dealt with. There should always be one paramedic present with an ECSW.

"There is no question the idea of Emergency Care Support Workers has been put in place by Government so that ambulance crews can reach their eight-minute response targets.

"We are not levying criticism at the North East Ambulance Service - it is a Government initiative that has been put in place."

There are 179 Emergency Care Support Workers in the North East. Their primary task is to give pre-hospital emergency care to sick or injured persons.

They are paid half the amount a paramedic is and their remit is to assist paramedics, drive blue light ambulances, offer first-aid and operate as a first response to appropriate cases which will be supported by a paramedic.

A senior paramedic, who has asked not to be named, said: "The situation is a ticking timebomb for patients and it is a real, genuine concern.

"The ECSWs go out and are asked to attend emergency calls. Often they cannot treat the patient because they are not qualified to do so and must wait for a paramedic to arrive.

"It is a disgrace to have these workers operating alone and it has been a massive concern to staff and union representatives."

A spokesman for the NEAS said: "Emergency Care Support Workers are an integral part of the ambulance service and since their introduction there has been a five-fold increase in the number of survivors of cardiac arrest.

"It is quite acceptable to have two people of that skill-level working together and they are dispatched to the calls that they are able to deal and cope with.

"They can be used as a first-response to more serious types of calls but this is always backed up by a call for a paramedic to also attend.

"This is not about trying to hit performance targets. It is about achieving the best patient outcomes and ECSWs are a key part of that, dealing with low-grade calls."