How to waste more money we don't have....

[Taf]

"The Welsh Ambulance Trust" could be renamed "The Welsh Emergency and Clinical Services NHS Trust" and a commissioner appointed to oversee it, says the Welsh government.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-25447550

Rebranding always costs loads of money, so what idiot is pushing for this? And putting another gravy-train rider on board?

[Osem]

Well you see the original name is confusingly simple...

[TheDaddy]

I fear for all our ambulance services

[Taf]

The powers that be keep griping that "targets" are not being met in the ambulance service, forgetting that most of Wales is rural and not easy to get around in the best of weathers.

Then ER units are closed, making for longer trips to open ER units!

And when they finally get to an ER unit, ambulance crews are obliged to hang around with their patients in the back because the ER units are overflowing!

Thankfully we have an Air Ambulance Service which is charity run!

The charity is funded by your support – we rely entirely on donations to raise £6 million each year to operate the three helicopters in the mid, north and south of the country.

http://www.walesairambulance.com/

[TheDaddy]

Wait till you have paramedics turning up on pushbikes or ambulance staff telling nurses that a dead woman is looking very sick

Actually, paramedics on bikes make Heathrow one of the safest places to have a heart attack outside of a hospital.

http://www.london24.com/news/health/...tack_1_2360622

And they are also providing very effective service in London, getting through the traffic quicker.

http://lydall.standard.co.uk/2013/11...westfield.html

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Actually, paramedics on bikes make Heathrow one of the safest places to have a heart attack outside of a hospital.

http://www.london24.com/news/health/...tack_1_2360622

And they are also providing very effective service in London, getting through the traffic quicker.

http://lydall.standard.co.uk/2013/11...westfield.html

Being a active member of the London ambulance trust I'm well aware of how useful they are in specific locations, how they'd get on in the Valleys isn't up for debate though, unless you have a link to prove otherwise.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Taf

The powers that be keep griping that "targets" are not being met in the ambulance service, forgetting that most of Wales is rural and not easy to get around in the best of weathers.

Then ER units are closed, making for longer trips to open ER units!

And when they finally get to an ER unit, ambulance crews are obliged to hang around with their patients in the back because the ER units are overflowing!

Thankfully we have an Air Ambulance Service which is charity run!



http://www.walesairambulance.com/

The London Air Ambulance is also charity run as I suspect many others are. It beggars belief that in this day and age such important services aren't centrally funded.

Originally Posted by Osem

The London Air Ambulance is also charity run as I suspect many others are. It beggars belief that in this day and age such important services aren't centrally funded.

I agree but i suspect it's because they are funded by charities to quite a high degree of success that they are not centrally funded ,if charity funding dries up then it may be looked at

[Osem]

There's some logic in that however it still seems odd that there is only 1 helicopter to cover the whole of London and its huge population. Elsewhere, it seems, huge geographical and often relatively isolated areas rely on cover from single helicopters. In heavily populated areas especially, you have to wonder just how many more lives could be saved if coverage could be extended. Of course the NHS could swallow up every penny of GDP and still not be able to do everything we'd like but this areas does seem to be one where relatively small sums could have a dramatic effect. As with so many areas of society, it's a difficult balance to strike but somehow, as Taf points out, there always seems to be money for yet another rebranding and all that goes with it...