There is no ambulance service anymore

[Snog]

Twice so far this year NHS111 have told me that my dd needs paramedics to attend for severe chest and abdominal pain and that they are on their way.

Both times the ambulance service called me later and said they would not be attending that night as too busy.

I am posting this because I want people to know that there is no functional ambulance service any more.

If you need an ambulance try to take your loved one to hospital yourself instead. This could save their life.

Obviously when you get to hospital good luck with that but at least you are not waiting for an ambulance that will never come.

I also worked on Ambulances 15 years ago. Inadequate social care interventions accounted for a great many 999 calls back then but they didn't tip the balance like they do now.
We do need more skilled clinical staff but we also need to make it realistic and affordable for those who are not straight out of school to re-train. There are so many people looking for a career change who just can't afford to stop earning a salary (let alone pay the tuition fees) to retrain. Flexibility for people to train part time and continue earning would be a good start.

@pickledeggnog why do you insist on implying I am irresponsible and have caused a more serious case to go unanswered by the ambulance service?

1. The ambulance service didn't even attend for me so not impacting on anyone else who needed an ambulance and
2. I was following the instructions of a doctor.

I find your posts to be both ignorant and offensive.

Ambulances are for life and death situations that require immediate life saving treatment on scene and/or on route not a taxi service.

They do offer hospital transfer services sometimes for pre-booked appointments especially for disabled travellers who need wheelchair access etc... but in general you're suppose to use taxis.

If you phoned 111 and could sit around waiting instead of calling 999 it CLEARLY is not that serious, you should have made your way there yourself.

Wow, what planet are you on? What the fuck do you think they were doing? They weren't chilling out with a cuppa.

Paramedics have to assess, triage, stabilise, start treatment if possible, contact suitable local hospitals to see who has a bed etc...

Isn't that what PP was saying, that soem work needs doing on why each visit takes so long.

When I called them for DH, the checks they did on him took only a few minutes, most of the visit was taken with paperwork. It's surely worth considering that there may be a different way. No one was suggesting they're having a cuppa (although why not once in a while?) but maybe there is a way to reduce the time a visit takes.

You're completely right - I also think it depends on where you live but it's absolutely dire in some places. You are lucky if you live somewhere that has functioning healthcare at this point.

Over the pandemic I moved from a massive city to the countryside, also moving health boards in the process. The difference has been astounding. I have never received healthcare so quickly for various things. The pressure on the NHS but particularly in large cities has a massive impact on things like wait times - of course it does, this can't be unknown surely!

It's funny isn't it - the most hated tax but the fairest and most redistributive one. And it's not payable on the whole lot, so people will still get something for nothing, and you can avoid paying it or some of it altogether if you give more money away before you die.

IHT is a tax on hoarding. I am only too glad if it goes up a lot and is used for essential services. This government won't do it though.

It was. Thank god we didn’t wait.

There are ambulances and the paramedics, incredible and wonderful people, are doing their best. This situation must be harrowing for them. But it’s true that the service is unrecognisably inadequate right now and effectively just not available for many people who need it. No matter how many cases do get attended, many are left in horrendous and prolonged suffering or die.

Absolute scaremongering.
My dm always got ambulances really quickly, this until recently. She passed away a few weeks ago.
The ambulance service would assess why you’d need an ambulance and if it was urgent.
I’d also say it’s area dependent. We’re just north of London.

My MIL has had two ambulances recently. One in Dec and another last month. Even she commented on how quickly they arrived and that she thinks they didn't have much to do.
You experience is valid OP but experiences differ. It's kind of you to alert others to be attentive and make plans to transport their loved one themselves if there're delays.

Completely agree, re inheritance tax. I don't understand why it's so hated especially considering it's only paid by something like 5% of estates. Inheritance tax should be treated like income for the recipient in my opinion and just taxed as such.

Where have all the convalescent homes gone?
Social care why don’t people want to do it? Better pay and conditions would help. Do people on mumsnet want their children to do that job?

@mam0918
"If you phoned 111 and could sit around waiting instead of calling 999 it CLEARLY is not that serious, you should have made your way there yourself."

If you know better than the doctor who advised me that my dd needed paramedics then good for you. My dd did turn out to have a life threatening condition. Why be so rude and patronising?

Telling your own true story is not scaremongering.
My friend's mum died recently and was admitted to hospital the day before she died - after waiting 12 hours for an ambulance when she was severely dehydrated and delirious.

Do you drive? If so, it would have been better for you to have driven your DD to casualty instead of expecting an ambulance to pick her up. I'd think i most cases now, it's quicker to drive or get a taxi to hospital, unless a person has had a heart attack, stroke, injury where they cannot be moved, or unconsciousness.

@gatehouseoffleet it's probably because housing is an asset & the only way to own a home for many is help. Obvs if prices weren't so high more people could buy without assistance, so inheritance wouldn't matter.

This came out this week.

www.aomrc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fixing_the_NHS_210922.pdf

Time for some difficult conversations.

The NHS has been systematically failed by government policy. It is in't the fault of staff working in the system many of whom are becoming traumatised themselves.

@Snog honestly just ignore them. Those people have nothing better to do & need to make themselves feel better about their sad little lives. I think in the past they would have just watched Jeremy Kyle 😆

Completely agree, re inheritance tax. I don't understand why it's so hated especially considering it's only paid by something like 5% of estates.

I often see it's only 5% but is that because so many circumnavigate it?

@rockyg thank you

My experience of 111 is they say an ambulance is needed very easily. I'd always take my child myself unless they couldn't be moved.

But it's nothing new to find they're busy. I had one time in 2018 where I couldn't even get through on the 999 line because of "high volume of calls". Just a recorded message telling me to put the phone down and try again later. It was the middle of a weekday so not expected to be particularly high either.
When I eventually did get through (we had a lady with suspected stroke) they told us high priority, expect 2-3 hours. We took her ourselves.

Depends on what the emergency is. My SIL, mid 60’s, fell and broke her hip. Her son was with her and they waited4 hours for an ambulance. She was made comfortable and not on her own, so not an immediate priority. My mum, 91 and with vascular dementia, had a haemorrhage from the bowel and the call handler stayed on the phone with me until the ambulance arrived - less than ten minutes later. I agree the ambulance service is in crisis and something needs to be done. But if you weren’t convinced before, yesterday’s mini budget should convince you that if you vote Tory things won’t get any better. It’s all about handing more money to those who are already well off and sod the people at the bottom. The Tories and their cronies have no need of the NHS, the ambulance service or the welfare system, so don’t expect things to improve any time soon

No, its because most people don't leave that much money.
Average house price in the UK is £304,000 iht threshold is £325,000 for a single person, double for a couple. So a person can inherit £650,000 from their parents and not pay a penny in tax. The Tories have talked for a while of increasing that to a million.

And before anyone accuses me of jealousy, even as it stands, I face a big inheritance tax bill went i inherit as do my children.

My argument would be the threshold should be lower and (maybe) the rate higher.