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.

On Ambulance fees and road accidents I think your insurer will be charged for the cost of an ambulance if it isn't an emergency.

I seem to recall years ago I was in a road accident and an ambulance was called - we were walking wounded (cuts and bruises) but were taken to hospital to get checked out (the car was a write off so we would have had no way of getting there). The bill was sent to our insurers.

The NHS is on its knees for several reasons - one major one being that so many people are incapable of taking personal responsibility for themselves anymore. Ambulances being used as taxis, baby after baby just ‘because’, unhealthy diets, smoking, drinking to excess and ending up fighting on a Saturday night. Plenty of people use the NHS because they need to, plenty because they don’t, and plenty because they don’t care about anyone but themselves and their own trivial wants and needs.

Not everyone is as lucky as you. Our nearest a&e is over an hour away, a closer one was closed down a few years ago. 3 buses to get there which would be a logistical nightmare and users and taxis are rare.
Saying that, i still wouldn't call an ambulance unless it was a life threatening emergency

Obviously the call out times are ridiculous for those of us who live rurally. We are not that far from a hospital but it’s never going to arrive in the times stated. Like just about every other aspect of free healthcare, we use it and abuse it.

One of the difficulties is that people cannot or will not manage long term health issues. They expect to have good health all the time and their “downs” are not monitored effectively by GPS because of the appointment system. So they call ambulances. Old people get infections that are not managed. They don’t get follow up care. So they get ill again.

Chest pains are rarely a heart attack. My DH had chest pains when he was 42. 27 years ago now! Turned out to be a virus but our GP came to see him - in the evening after his surgery. We never ever considered calling an ambulance. People do not get this service now so off they go to hospital. It’s probably indicative that there are no alternative services. So no choice and people are directed to A&E whether it’s an emergency or not.

Ambulance Services for RTAs have been charged for some time now. If they can work out who you are!

Want to bet?
Take your fucking head out of your arse and Google it before calling people liars.

There's always one

We should have more ambulances and the staff should be paid far more. And noone should feel bad about having to use one.

But a taxi wont take someone in obvious labour so if you dont have family an ambulance is your only option

In the summer a friend fell off a bike and hit her head and was unconscious for 10 mins with blood everywhere. I was on the phone to 999 when she came round and took her to hospital myself after the ambulance was going to take 14 hours. This was absolutely terrifying because I didn't know if I was making it worse moving her and if something had happened to her while we were driving there on the motorway I don't know what I'd have done. She was completely out of it after coming round didn't know what had happened didn't know who I was or where she was and kept talking about going home. I was terrified she was going to try and get out of the car.
It was this or leave her on the pavement for 14 hours. So while I could make my way to the hospital, I don't think it should be like this in one of the richest countries on earth.

@Metabigot yes this absolutely is true. They charge for continuous unnecessary requests of ambulance. Someone I know was being charged £48 every time he called, so started getting taxis.

Yes they should. There are people calling ambulances for silly and trivial reasons. There is plenty of evidence for this.

I called an ambulance once for something that wasn't really an emergency. I was a teenager, as was the patient (who was in a lot of pain and did need help). I didn't really understand the circumstances under which one should call an ambulance tbh. We didn't drive, friend was in pain, and I thought that if you needed quick medical care that's what you do. I also wrongly believed that the ambulance would take you straight to the appropriate department and had never heard of triage. I do think in some cases it's lack of understanding rather than knowingly abusing the system.

I've called an ambulance once since then, for a stranger I saw punched unconscious in the road.

I’m more intrigued now about the stranger you punched unconscious?!

I got kicked in the head and chest a couple of years ago (horse) . Laid on the floor with two broken arms. Ambulance said it would be 2 hours plus. Poor dh had to drive me. I had to be hauled up and get into a car, and dh spent the whole time looking in his rear view mirror to check i hadn't passed out. I could have died as had a head injury and whiplash which could have been a spinal injury for all we knew. Noone should have to do that.

For a lot of people, family/friends aren't available.

My only family member is 150 miles away and I only have 2 friends who are local. They are both carers for family members and I wouldn't like to ask in case they are needed at home. And I doubt if they'd ask me if they needed to go to hospital. My neighbours didn't ask me, when one of them had a badly gashed arm and the other had had a drink, so couldn't drive.

Last time I tried to call a taxi, I rang both taxi firms in town repeatedly for 45 minutes and still couldn't get an answer. And this was daytime, not chucking out time on a Saturday night. It's a bloody nightmare. And a taxi to the hospital is around £30 (more at night & weekends). A lot of people wouldn't be able to spare £60 for the round trip, and few taxi drivers would want a fare that's bleeding or vomiting.

Thankfully, we have a UTC that is open from 8am - 8pm, it's within walking distance, and has parking if I was able to drive. If they decide you need to go to A&E, they call an ambulance for you. After 8pm, it's a different matter. And NHS111 seem rather fond of sending ambulances, they insisted on sending one for me when I started vomiting blood during a migraine attack. All I needed was a shot of anti-emetic.

That sounds awful greatly but clearly we aren’t referring to things like that. Many of us are referring to time wasters using ambulances as taxis. I have a friend who is a nurse. She has rung ambulances more times than I can remember for trivial reasons, mostly because she’s had a drink and won’t pay for a taxi. It beggars belief to be honest and makes a mockery of her colleagues responding to these calls.

Twice in the past 6 months I called 111 for advice and they sent an ambulance even when I could have easily driven there. The person had to be seen in A&E but it was not a life or death situation.

I didn't punch them! I saw someone in a side road in a fight with someone else who punched them unconscious. The assailant looked up and saw me, and did a runner. I called the police too. It was broad daylight.

Never found out the cause. He was still unconscious when they put him in the ambulance. I wondered if it was drugs related but that's just speculation.

Im so sorry I completely missed the ‘saw’ in your post 🙈

@Sugarplumfairy65 oh I know ! I grew up in the Canadian country side an hour away from a tiny hospital.

In my current situation it would need to be a matter of life or death for me to call an ambulance.

I have had an ambulance called for me last month and I had a seizure that I had not come out of after 5 mins you are advised to ring an ambulance I was with my young dd who know if I have a long seizure to ring them, the staff on the phone where amazing, that arrived so fast, I was just coming out of it, the paramedics where amazing not only with me but my dd and I was admitted to hospital for a week, but this week my 11 year old dd told me she has been told by her teacher to not ring for an ambulance because there are not enough and we need to help the nhs WTF. Yes I have been in touch with school and emailed the head

I don't agree with the thread title. I don't think MOST people who call an ambulance could or should make their own way to A and E. I am aware there are people who abuse the system and also alcohol plays a massive part in that - people who are very pissed can't drive and can't manage public transport - we have a big problem with booze in this country.

It would be great if 999 could dispatch taxis to patients who are safe to move. Perhaps the taxis could be paid some sort of monthly retainer fee and have a special licence so that if ambulance dispatch orders them to collect patients, they have to go. They could be trained and have basic ppe. The patient would pay the taxi cost and the taxi owner would have any costs of clean up covered. This would surely be cheaper than sending a fully kitted out ambulance with two trained paramedics.

Remembering a nice black cab driver who actually helped get my daughter to A and E, he could have refused. Why not pay decent people like him more, or give them a tax break?

I know the argument would be about who can't afford to pay, but most people have a least one neighbour or relative with a car. @

An ongoing seizure is one of only 3 things that will get you a cat 1 ambulance response, the other two being cardiac arrest/not breathing and haemorrhaging!

We live very near a hospital and would not bother calling an ambulance unless who ever needed it was not able to walk to the car.