Overview
The complainant (Ms C) raised a complaint against the Scottish Ambulance Service (the Service) about the length of time it took for a paramedic response unit (the PRU) and accident and emergency vehicle to attend an emergency call-out when her brother, Mr A, collapsed with chest pains at her home. Mr A later died in hospital.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that:
- (a) the PRU took an unreasonable length of time to attend (not upheld); and
- (b) the accident and emergency vehicle took an unreasonable length of time to attend (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Service:
- (i) undertake the actions outlined at paragraph 19 of this report and provide him with evidence that these have taken place;
- (ii) review their current system for the allocation of back-up accident and emergency vehicles to PRUs, to ensure that the risk of unnecessary delay is minimised;
- (iii) consider introducing a system to record all calls from paramedics' mobile phones to the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre; and
- (iv) apologise to Ms C for the failings identified in this report.
The Service has accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.