A grieving Perthshire mother has welcomed changes to paramedics’ tea breaks that could have saved the life of her three-year-old son.
Martyn Gray died in April after an ambulance took 48 minutes to reach his home near Crieff. Another ambulance was less than 10 minutes away but did not respond to the call as the crew were on a tea break.
The outrage that followed led to a review of the policy. On Thursday, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced arrangements that will see the breaks interrupted in an emergency.
Martyn’s mother, Lisa, told The Courier she was taking comfort from the fact her son’s death meant no other parent would suffer in that way.
She said: ”It is a relief that no other parent will have to go through what we went through. To have to resuscitate your own child for that length of time leaves you asking questions that if the ambulance had arrived earlier you maybe wouldn’t have to.”
She added: ”My son had to pay the ultimate price so that no parent would have to go through that again.”
Lisa and her husband, Martin, have been campaigning for changes and met Ms Sturgeon about their concerns earlier this year.
Lisa said: ”She gave us her word that she would have it sorted, so she has kept true to her promise.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service must comply with UK-wide NHS rules that staff are entitled to an undisturbed break during their shift. The ”interim arrangement” will see ambulance workers get more money in compensation for responding to emergencies during their rest breaks.
Ms Sturgeon revealed the details after talks between unions and the SAS failed to find a workable solution. Staff will now only be disturbed during a rest break if it is to respond to a major incident.
In return, the ambulance service will pay an annual fee of £250 as well as a £100 ”activation payment” if they are actually disturbed.
The one-off payments represent double the fee proposed in earlier failed talks and will start from 6am on Monday.
A similar case involved Mandy Mathieson (33), who died after suffering cardiac arrest in Tomintoul, Moray, on October 16. The local on-duty technician did not respond to the call because he was on his tea break.