Make a formal complaint about an ambulance medic?

[KungFuPandaWorksOut20]

I want to say I understand with corona virus ambulance and NHS are stretched, that's why I'm asking for opinions.

Phoned 111 last night, my husband hasn't been well for nearly a week. But last night he wasn't himself. His temp was raging, and he was in a state of confusion. I went through his symptoms, they kept coming back to COVID-19, I explained he's not showing any of them but still answered their checklist.

They send an ambulance, which arrives within an hour. The woman enters wearing protective equipment, and straight away I found her quite rude. She greeted my husband with are you the one who is supposedly ill? She's asking him questions and not get much sense from him. She radio's someone and says I don't think it's COVID-19, more like a person with a cold feeling sorry for themselves.

I explained I never once rang it through as the corona virus, I was massively concerned about his temp he was struggling to manage and his confusion.

She exits and says she needs to phone someone. 10 minutes later she knocks on passes me paperwork and says he needs to go to an OOH and it isn't corona virus.

I read over the paperwork and honestly it is filled with so much rubbish it's like it's someone else's form. For instance she's put down allergies he doesn't have. Wrote down he refused too speak with them, the only reason they've revered him to an OOH because he insisted. (He refused to speak with them, yet insisted he gets referred )

The OOH doctor was a bit arsey when we first arrived, because it was clear the lady had made out like he was there over nothing.

Long story cut short, turns out he has pneumonia (nothing covid related) hence the reason for the delirium and temp. Once the doctor realised something was wrong she was absolutely amazing!

I get the ambulance service is extremley stretched given the current state of affairs, but WIBU in reporting the medic? I just feel massively let down on my husband's behalf.

I don't think emergency services can cite massive stress to excuse this sort of behaviour, at least at the moment. We aren't at those levels yet, and in any event if you can't take stress this is not the sort of occupation you should opt for.

Yes complain. It’s not taking up anyone’s “valuable time” when it may prevent someone dying as a result of inaccurate paperwork. Plus the NHS employs people to deal with complaints - it’s not like it’ll be keeping a surgeon out of theatre!

Short factual email. Constructive feedback should hopefully lead to a process improvement, at some time in the future. Perhaps do not refer to your view on attitude.

@nonicknameseemsavailable- yes definitely- they're now only testing people in hospital and not arranging testing for most people phoning 111 with Coronavirus symptoms.

I would definitely complain, we are all stressed with current situation but it does not excuse any medical professional falsifying information and being rude. I would send a factual email with the details. It should hopefully prevent someone even more vulnerable being subjected to that behaviour.

I've been an NHS employee for most of my working life and I would also bring this to the attention of your local service. The leadership need to know when staff are getting to the point that they are falling short of their duty of care/ability to perform to a safe level because the employer is also letting them down. It might be that they need to urgently review their protocols to look for better ways to support their staff - it definitely does not sound like the person you came across is well-supported in their work or they wouldn't think it was acceptable to bring whatever their issue was into the way they treated you and your DH. I get that everyone's stressed to the max but that's no excuse for not listening to patients or mis-recording what they say. When I started out working in the NHS I was constantly told that even typing up letters or taking minutes, me sticking a decimal point in the wrong place or using the wrong three letter acronym could kill someone, it sounds like this person's manager needs to have the same conversation with them, urgently.

We are early days in a new and changing situation and the more intel managers have about what's happening in the field, the better the NHS as a whole can learn and tailor their response as they go - reframing a 'complaint' mindset into 'supporting their continuous improvement' is a good way to get your point across. I hope your DH is feeling better soon and that your next interaction with the NHS is more positive.

I don't think being stressed is a good enough reason to treat seriously ill patients like shit. I'd complain.
Wtf was she thinking, lying on the form? Completely unprofessional.

I thought all pneumonia cases requiring hospital treatment were being treated as coronavirus? How can they tell it isn’t?

I didn't finish reading your whole message, but read most of it and voted YANBU.what was your dh's.temp?

I'm sorry your husband was unwell and I hope he's feeling better now X

It does sound like the woman was rude -but did you really need to call an ambulance ? I don't mean to be harsh and it's good you got him checked out (clearly it was the right thing to do) but was it really life and death - ie what ambulances are designed for? It is a slight piss take - imagine if he'd had a heart attack and was left waiting because someone was using the ambulance service for the symptoms you describe. An extra five mins for using your car/taxi would not have been a problem And yes I know 111 always say call an ambulance but that's to protect themselves legally - everyone else treats that like "make a doctor's appointment if your waist size is over 35 ins" or "see your GP if you have a persistent cough" - it doesn't really mean you have to be blue lighted , common sense should apply. Nevertheless I am glad your husband is ok and hopefully on the mend x

Was your DH tested for covid 19? He has high temp and pneumonia, how can the gp be sure it's not covid 19?
Covid 19, causes viral pneumonia.
Hope he improves, but I'd consider asking for a test if I were you.

I would complain. I am finding it alarming how quickly some people are slipping into a 'dont you know there's a war on' attitude whereby all falling short of expected standards is written off as acceptable in the current circumstances.

Nurse here and I would also feedback the issues. Putting false information on a call out sheet is really quite serious, as is making disparaging comments in earshot of patients and family members.

I hope your dh will be ok. You definitely need to complain. This woman sounds under immense strain and the service needs to know she is potentially not fit to work right now.

JovialNickname

I've known people call ambulances for really stupid reasons but are you really saying that pneumonia is not serious enough for an ambulance?

If it was just a matter of being a bit short with you then yes I would say let it go due to the huge pressure all NHS staff are under etc it's understandable.. We all have off days.. BUT..

It wasn't just a case of her being a bit off. She falsified paperwork and dismissed your husbands symptoms based on a preconceived idea that everyone she has probably attended that day didn't need an ambulance or hospitalisation and opened herself up to serious litigation implications. It needs to be brought to her attention because with that attitude she could indirectly kill someone. I work in healthcare and I would expect serious repocussions if I had done that to a patient. People tend to assume those who complain to the NHS are ungrateful and out for blood.. But that's not the case always, if these things aren't brought to the HCP attention then we can't learn from them. This is why we incorporate reflection as part of our role its important for our future career and for patients safety.

I would complain purely because of the false information she recorded. That is very serious and I am amazed anyone could think recording false information is something you just "let go". The potential harm is too great for that sort of attitude.

False information on the call out sheet is beyond irresponsible. That alone is enough for a complaint.

The fact that a paramedic could not possibly see that your Dh had penumonia, also incredibly worrying.

As dismissive as she was, imagine if you had decided your Dh was wasting the NHS's time, and not gone to OOH. According to that sheet it was the patient who wanted that, not the paramedic. My Dad would have said, fuck it and stayed home and refused to move.

Her attitude is awful. Saying those things aloud.

Definitely report it.

Please don't let this go!.
This is one reasons why I'm terrified!
Everyone is so hyped up about corona it will be difficult to get help for anything else.

JovialNickname - the OP's DH had pneumonia. The wife of a colleague of mine died from that. Are you really saying that that's a waste of an ambulance?

I would absolutely complain because the paramedic sounds incompetent and that actually could be a matter of life or death quite literally. What is more worrying is that it sounds as if all they are looking for is Covid 19 and if it's not that, it doesn't matter.

My DF nearly died from pneumonia, i would complain the information she put down was wrong like you said you were there for you're dh someone else might not have that support.

I would complain. That's simply unforgivable.

I hope your DH makes a quick recovery

Was he admitted to hospital, sorry your original post doesn’t say? If he was then he will be tested for Covid-19 and nursed in exclusion till then.

The allergy could have come from his online records and might be worth checking out. I know mine has errors on my allergy list. I also had to fight with my gp to get a medical condition removed from my records that would appear when I attended hospital and was going to affect my pathway for maternity care. All nhs organisations communicate with each other quite well, just a pity sometimes the information is incorrect.

I’m a paramedic and I would complain about that. A calm factual email would suffice. There are bad paramedics just like there are in any profession. We are, at the moment, being told to try and keep people out of hospital but there is no excuse for a poor attitude. If there is any mitigation such as having come straight from a paed arrest then it should flag up that she needs support.

Now is exactly the time to raise this, exactly because they're under pressure. They need to keep sight of those who are ill with things other than covid 19. They should not be dismissing patient concerns or writing false and incorrect information on medical forms. Please raise this with the PALS for your ambulance service.