The grieving widow lodged a complaint with the Scottish Ambulance Service, who today apologized for the “tragic case”. The woman, who asked not to identify herself, had called 999 when her partner became ill at home, but it took a long time for the ambulance to arrive, she says.
When that happened, the woman was asked to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her husband in the back of the ambulance. However, the paramedics did not offer her any help.
She only had to perform CPR until the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Daily record reports.
It’s unclear if the EMS technician lacked the skills to perform CPR or if there was some other reason for the decision.
But last night, Labor’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said it was “an absolutely shocking and disturbing thing”.
She continued: “The time it took to get this person to hospital may have cost them their lives and urgent measures need to be taken to ensure this does not happen again.”
Scotland’s health watchdog upheld the woman’s complaint, saying she had lodged a complaint with the Scottish Ambulance Service but was not happy with the response.
But the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman (SPSO) has supported the complaint and has suggested ways the ambulance group can improve its service.
The SPSO states in its opinion: “It should have been clear to the EMS that A (the patient) was seriously unwell and that the time on site was unreasonable and that the decision to ask C (the patient’s wife) for CPR. .. wasn’t reasonable.
“We found that the initial study was not sufficient, although we acknowledged the proactive steps taken by SAS to address this issue and acknowledged shortcomings, including asking C to begin CPR.
“We also felt that in this case the entire crew should have been interviewed. We upheld C’s complaints.”
The ombudsman asked the ambulance service to apologize to the widow for the shortcomings – including “the time it took to assess A at their home and the delay in transporting A to the hospital, failure to properly follow clinical guidelines and the failure to deal with C’s complaint is justified”.
The Ombudsman also advised:
- For out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, the relevant clinical guidelines should be followed by EMS personnel.
- EMS personnel should accurately record the treatment performed to demonstrate adherence to clinical guidelines.
The SPSO has asked the ambulance service to demonstrate that they have implemented the recommendations.
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “This is a tragic case and we have personally and personally apologized to the patient’s family. We note the final decision of the SPSO and we will implement their recommendations.”