Ambulance crews ‘waste very important time’ on jail call-outs

Ambulance crews are losing “vital” quantities of time being known as out unnecessarily to prisons throughout England, the well being security watchdog has mentioned.

One NHS belief informed investigators it handled 5,000 calls to 999 from jail employees throughout its area in 2023.

General the analysis discovered that just about three in 4 calls from prisons didn’t want an ambulance response, in contrast with one in eight calls from the overall inhabitants.

The Division of Well being mentioned it was “important” that an ambulance was known as solely when there was a critical concern in regards to the well being of the prisoner.

On one event, a number of crews, together with an air ambulance, had been dispatched to an “unresponsive” inmate who was considered unconscious, the watchdog mentioned.

On arrival they discovered the affected person was merely refusing to reply questions.

One nameless paramedic informed investigators that “we waste very important time driving to a jail for a name which then will get cancelled, and we’ve simply added that point on to the response to somebody who [really] wants us”.

The report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) discovered that prisons usually inspired a “low-risk response” when inmates had been injured or fell ailing.

Some jail management rooms had been informed to name 999 instantly after which watch for an on-site nurse to look at the affected person, after which stand down the ambulance if it was not wanted.

Excessive turnover and an absence of coaching meant that jail employees first on the scene of a medical emergency tended to be inexperienced.

Some employees informed the watchdog they had been afraid of getting to attend a coroner’s courtroom or being blamed for making a unsuitable resolution if they didn’t name 999.

“You find yourself with a system that does not work for anyone,” mentioned the HSSIB’s senior investigator Dave Fassam.

“It is placing strain on jail employees who’re very busy… and paramedics who do not wish to be known as to a situation that does not warrant them being there.”

The watchdog was informed that the quantity of emergency calls from prisons was now having a knock-on impact on the broader group, with paramedics and name handlers left pissed off after ambulances had been diverted from different jobs unnecessarily.

It mentioned communication between jail employees and the emergency providers wanted to enhance considerably, with crews generally dispatched to a jail with the unsuitable data.

In a single case, paramedics had been informed they had been going to deal with a affected person in his 90s with a twisted ankle. After they arrived they discovered a person in his 30s with a number of stab wounds.

The Division of Well being mentioned that the jail service, NHS England and ambulance providers had been already working to enhance communication and handle considerations raised by the protection watchdog.

New coaching can be being rolled out to assist jail employees reply to medical emergencies.

The Affiliation of Ambulance Chief Executives, which represents the ten main NHS ambulance trusts in England, mentioned it hoped the report would enhance the way in which prisons and ambulance providers work collectively “to make sure the identical commonplace of well being care providers for folks in prisons and in the neighborhood”.