Ambulance

While we all have a fair understanding of what constitutes an ambulance, it is a good idea to remind ourselves of the derivation of the word. Ambulance comes from the latin ambulare which means "to move about". Recent revelations appear to show that some ambulances are being made to wait for periods of six hours or more outside A and E departments. The patient inside the ambulance is thus stationary and not being moved about.

There are reasons why this is happening. The main reason is the legal one. The patient only becomes the responsibility of the hospital at the point when they are taken over the threshold of the front doors. They therefore remain the responsibilty of the ambulance crew for the time they are kept waiting outside A and E. But why are they being kept outside for so long?

Contrary to the popular myth, it is not always due to a lack of hospital bed space although this is often the main reason. Sadly, this has become something of a political football as hospitals seek to demonstrate how stretched they have become. In a recent story in North Wales, ambulances were being turned away from one of the DGHs and diverted to other units 40 minutes away. Ultimately, this will move to the front pages when a patient actually dies while they are waiting and it seems likely this will happen before too long.

The closure of many of our Community Hospitals has undoubtedly played a part in all of this and still can't understand the rationale for that decision. It seems as though warnings of bed blocking have come home to roost and the ambulances are being used as pawns in a battle of political ideology. The poor patient inside is the real loser though.