To think most people who phone for an ambulance could make their own way to hospital?

[fillmeup]

Either by getting family or friends to drive them there or getting a taxi. Obviously if you’re on the floor with a broken hip etc and can’t be moved or had a severe stroke an ambulance is required but most people I’ve heard on the news recently talking about how long they have waited, I’ve seriously wondered why they waited 20 hours (or thereabouts) and didn’t just get a lift.

@Nowdontmakeamess You say people insist on staying in two storey houses so you mean they should move to a bungalow? A bungalow costs more than my house, it is not an option.

CMHT have called ambulances for me a few times totally ridiculous your told to ring the crisis team as part of your safety/crisis plan and they phone for an ambulance as they haven’t got the staff /resources to help people in a MH crisis. I don’t bother calling them anymore as what a PP said.

I also work in primary care and we get to see what people called an ambulance for and some of it is just embarrassing tbh. But people panic and call, I get it

GP’s are in many A&E’s often to deal with walking, talking, no breathing problems ‘chest pain’ which is reflux/GERD from over eating

I have thought this recently OP but I'm on the fence. Obviously there are many situations where this won't be possible. But I have seen quite afew cases recently where they have waited hours and I have sort of thought your DP etc could have brought you. I do wonder if people think they get seen quicker possibly?
My DF lives 5 minutes away from the hospital and he walked with serve chest pains. Not the best idea you could say as he was having a heart attack. However he was instantly queue jumped and seen.
Why I'm on the fence is that it's just wrong that wait times for ambulances are so long. I feel like it's these sort of times we turn on each other/hospital staff when it's the government who need to fully take the blame and sort it.

The ambulance service is not a free taxi service. This is the problem.

People just can't look after themselves.

DHs cousin once got an ambulance to hospital for a RASH he egged it on as meningitis, he was perfectly well. It was eczema.

The only times I've called an ambulance was when my mum fell down the stairs and couldn't move her legs and when a woman had a seizure with her kid outside my front door.

Yeah that's fair enough. The ambulance transports I've been involved with (for me or DH), we all could have driven by someone. All of those situations, someone else called an ambulance for us. One of them, I started to drive DH but he made me turn around & go back when he saw the ambulance approaching: he was desperate for pain relief. That ambulance stopped en route to put him on morphine, & I got to hospital maybe 20 minutes before him (driving separately). So he would have arrived a lot faster to hospital if I had driven him, too.

Probably experienced more agony, though. Sometimes it's not just about "life threatening" concerns. Ambulances provide treatment not just conveyance.

Totally agree.
What is wrong with this country that we blame people, some who are desperately ill or dying, for the ambulance crisis rather than government ideology?

And yes there will always be some who call an ambulance for a broken toe and others who will drive themselves with a broken leg. It's still government policy that has fucked the NHS.

I've called an ambulance 3 times this year. Each time for my daughter(s) having seizures. 1st time was our 5 year old, I didnt know what was going on and panicked so called them and she needed treatment in the ambulance before we could transport her. Next time was the baby having a seizure and I knew what to do to try prevent it but it still happened and she was limp. Thought on the last one we would be able to bring her in the car for a check over but then her airway became compromised and we needed immediate attention. Could not have strapped her in a car seat and brought her by myself while DH stayed at home with younger kids.

So I guess it depends on the accident/emergency. Breathing issues, heart attack, stroke, open wounds with broken bones all ambulance jobs. Bad flu, dislocations etc get a lift.

Not knowing where to park is not a good enough to call and ambulance ffs!

Many years ago I knew a paramedic who kept her horses at the same yard as me, and she was on duty one Christmas Day when they got a call-out. Turned up at the address, door opened by a man dressed in a suit, suitcase in hand, noises coming from the house of guests enjoying Christmas dinner, expecting to be taken to A&E because he’d had swollen testicles for several days.

A few years ago I got billed £25 for calling an ambulance out.
I witnessed a road accident where a cyclist flew out of a side road straight into the path of a car.
Clearly he had sustained some pretty serious injuries so I called an ambulance.
A few days later, I got a bill for the ambulance.
This is normal according to the ambulance service, even if you're just a witness to the event calling one.
I'll never call an ambulance to an rta again unless it's one of my nearest and dearest needing one.

So what do u do if you have to drive but can't afford to park? Its actually a problem for some people but obviously not priveleged people like you...

Is that in the uk? I've never heard of that

@abmac95 is that a genuine question? If you're really concerned about the cost of parking to the point you'd call an ambulance out unnecessarily.. I'd suggest you ask a friend to take you, or I'd speak to the parking team at the hospital and explain. Most have a discretionary policy where I
They'll waive the parking fee or ticket if you get one.

Or speak to the nurse in the department you're in for a form to waive the fee.

Either way, it's not a good enough reason to use the ambulance service as a taxi

Yes, in the UK.

Yes, in the UK.

Rather than wait for an ambulance, absolutely yes!

I was charged £25 for the ambulance that attended my RTA 30 years ago, it’s not a new thing, and it came out of the compensation I received 6 years later. I’m lucky they only charged me once, as another crew had crashed on their way to me, writing off their ambulance! (It was a terrible night, weather-wise.)

The compensation also repaid all my sick pay - a whole year’s worth!

With chest pain you never know, my husband drove himself to hospital- consultant told him to never drive again with chest pains as he had had an heart attack.

Many taxi drivers dont take unwell people on for obvious reasons.

I was told off by a paramedic for calling an ambulance, even I had been vomiting, fever,dizzy etc and strong stomach ache- she said I can walk so why didnt I take the taxi since they are not a taxi service? I felt so embarassed, I got to the hospital turned out my appendix was about to burst.

I agree with you OP. I think, unfortunately, many people feel entitled to be taken to the hospital via ambulance, or be seen by a paramedic at the very least.
Of course if someone is seriously ill then paramedics will be able to provide care at the point of arrival but the majority could have made their own way there.
As brilliant as it is, 111 seem to have taken people’s ability to risk assess their own health away from them. It’s all broken and I think, after the past few years with covid, people have become scared for their health/ lives and maybe the panic of the unknown potential severity of their health makes them reach for the phone to call 999 🤷🏼‍♀️.
Of course a good start to fixing all of this mess would be education to the community on what warrants a trip to the pharmacy/ GP/ minor injuries/ ED but it doesn’t seem to be that easy as people don’t understand or don’t want to be told these things so it’ll continue to be a struggle!

Exactly this, where I work someone calls the parking team to explain the situation, they give the registration number and then when the patient is well enough to leave or someone can come and pick up the car they open the barriers for them and the person doesn’t get charged.
absolutely not a reason to call an ambulance,, which costs a hell of a lot more than parking 🤦🏼‍♀️

I’ve called an ambulance 4 times. Twice we called the health info line and they deemed it serious enough for an ambulance and put us straight through.

And twice my mum has been on the floor with a broken hip/vertebrae unable to get up. Ambulance was definitely needed!

I think there are definitely those who abuse it. Thankfully I live outside the UK and near a major hospital so our ambulance waits are 10-20 minutes, not hours.

But do people know that you can do that? I certainly didnt.

I am luckily not in the situation that being ill would cause me financial stress but many many people are.

Some people don't have/can't afford cars. Some people have no petrol and no way to get petrol. You can't phone a taxi and say 'i'll pay you back next week'. Or sit and wait on a bus in the freezing cold if you are so ill that you need to go to hospital.

For some people calling an ambulance is their only option.

The current pressures are more to do with handover delays though, rather than people calling ambulances for the wrong reason (which is obviously unacceptable, but has long been the case). If 20% of people in hospital wards are fit to leave but can’t, this means there aren’t enough beds for people in A&E who need them. So the paramedics can’t hand over patients as A&E is over full. We all need to pay more for health and social care, and things would improve.