Diagnosis R.I.P

Senior management’s attitude to patients and staff

If you came here looking for the DiagnosisN.F.I. blog then I’m afraid you’re too late. I’ve deleted all the posts and this is all that’s left.

Too be honest I can’t be arsed any more. The NHS Ambulance Service is fucking shambles. It used to be about caring for patients and taking them to hospital for definitive treatment. Now its all about Nu-Labour’s top-down control obsession, a.k.a. response times.

In the Nu-Labour ambulance world You, the patient, don’t matter. Management don’t give a toss about you; whether you live or die, suffer or get treated is immaterial. To them a 999 call is a pain in the arse; just another target to hit. And they certainly don’t give a shit about the staff: training’s non existent; development’s out the window; most of the vehicles are off the road with faults; equipment doesn’t work; we can’t get hold of the drugs we need; shifts go uncovered coz staff have just had enough – but still the relentless drive to meet those 8 minute response times goes on and on (even though there’s not a shred of evidence that it makes any difference).

I care about patients. I’m good with them and I treat them the way I’d want to be treated. In 12 years I’ve never had a complaint about my patient care and I’ve never had anyone question my treatment. That’s the way I think it should be. If I can treat them at home, then great. If they have to go to hospital, well that’s what we’re there for. After all the word ambulance is derived from the Latin ambulo (to travel, to take a walk).

I’ve lost heart in the current climate. I was informed the other day that I must now spend all my shift stuck in the response car out on cover “so we can hit our A cat response targets.” I told them to fuck off. I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend hours stuck on a street corner or driving aimlessly about. Ambulance crews can return to station but not response cars: another desperate move that shows how obsessed the management have become. They haven’t got a clue what’s really happening on the front-line. An operations manager recently expressed his surprise when he had to wait 20 minutes for a back-up ambulance with the patient only 5 minutes travel time away from the hospital. “Hey arsehole! wake up and welcome to the real world of solo response. A 45-90 minutes wait is now the norm“.

So…

If your a senior ambulance manager or a control manager – then fuck off!! You’ve wrecked a once excellent service.

If your a Nu-Labour politico then I say to you – I hope you never have occasion to call an ambulance coz you’re in for one hell of a shock.

To all my patients – I’m sorry. I’m doing my best but in the current climate you don’t matter any more.