People getting plastered on a weekend and ambulances attending left right and centre, it's no wonder the service is stretched. A rapidly growing population demanding more treatment means either we spend more money on more staff/ambulances or try to do something about the level of demand and its root causes.
Just been listening to a paramedic who wasted several hours dealing with a guy who claimed he'd been having severe breathing problems which turned out to be due to excessive nasal hair. The paramedic cancelled the ambulance but the guy insisted that one be despatched and so it was apparently. Just one of oh so many cases in which the ambulance service is abused.
Although I don't agree with paying for GP visits etc. perhaps such abuse is an inevitable consequence of a service which is free at the point of delivery.
