A paramedic has warned there will be more tragedies if ambulance crews have to take tea breaks and emergency calls are routed elsewhere.
The Perthshire worker who spoke to The Courier on the guarantee of anonymity said he expected tragedies like the death of Crieff boy Martyn Gray (3) would happen when changes were imposed a few years ago. The youngster died after falling ill at home. An ambulance took 48 minutes to reach him, despite the local crew being only 10 minutes away but on a break.
“A few years ago unpaid meal breaks were forced upon us when we were given the choice of having undisturbed breaks or being paid £250 a year to be available during breaks,” the paramedic said. “I knew when this came about people would be losing their lives over it and it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.”
He said UK-wide rules mean staff on breaks won’t be contacted by the control room in an emergency. “There have been a number of cases already and it’s very frustrating for staff because we’re not aware of it and control aren’t obliged to call us. Staff made senior managers aware this would happen and it fell on deaf ears until something like this happens and the politicians get involved.
“We keep getting bad publicity that crews are in the station when someone’s dying just around the corner but the crews aren’t even necessarily in the station. They’re perfectly entitled to leave if they’re on a break.
“So even if someone has taken the £250 payment, they will be on their own to go out to a call. If anything happened to me I would like to think if I phoned 999 an ambulance would be there as quickly as possible but I wouldn’t want just one person arriving it’s just not a good idea.
“It has to be borne in mind, we’re not an emergency service like the fire or police, we’re classed as an essential service and there’s a big difference.”
He said it is unlikely paramedics will give up their breaks without the promise of proper recompense.
“I don’t know what can be done or what the politicians are planning but something has to happen or these issues will keep coming up again and again. We know colleagues down south who are handling more drugs and have less skills are getting paid far more than that, about £1700 to £2000.
“When you look at the fact we have 45 minutes’ unpaid break a day, would anyone give that up for £250?”
Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon is seeking a meeting with Martyn’s parents Lisa and Martin.
A government spokesman said the status quo “cannot remain” and “urgent discussions” are taking place with the Scottish Ambulance Service.