"Worst Christmas" of my 15 year career, says Emergency Care Assistant
The festive period saw South Western Ambulance workers battle through a critical incident
Last updated 4th Jan 2023
Ambulance workers have been describing the festive period as their worst Christmas to date.
On the 28th December, South Western Ambulance Service put in place a critical incident as they saw 700 calls waiting for help.
Emergency Care Assistant, Shane Clark, says he's never seen it this bad.
"I've been in the ambulance service for over 15 years, it is the worst Christmas that I have ever seen.
"Patients have been waiting on the back of ambulances for 10 to 12 hours, it has been absolutely horrendous."
On Tuesday afternoon, after seeing a fall in the number of patients waiting for help, the South Western Ambulance service stood down their critical incident.
But Shane warns "We are still under a lot of pressure".
He added, "I really think we have hit rock bottom … I really worry as we move forward.
"It is very demoralising ... the really sad thing for us is hearing what we call general broadcasts (no ambulances to send).
"We have nothing to send because those ambulances are outside the front doors of emergency departments.
"That happens every hour."
"It is frightening"
When ambulance workers took strike action, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said they were making a “conscious decision” to “inflict harm” on their patients. Having worked most of the festive period Mr Clark says more harm was done in "the last 72 hours and there's been no strikes.
"The call volume continues to be high, hospitals continue to be rammed and we continue to queue outside hospitals with patients on the back for many, many hours."
"The strikes didn't alter the picture that we've been seeing in the last few months."
Describing a normal shift, emergency care assistant Shane Clark says it is normal for him to clock on at 2pm and finish at midnight having only helped one patient.
He says this is a major worry for him, not just as a paramedic, but as a family man.
"If your family becomes unwell, I know how long you'll have to wait for an ambulance, I know how long their going to be in the A&E waiting room, I know how long they are going to be on the back on the ambulance."
"When you live locally and you are seeing those scenes day in day out, it is frightening."
There's an "intolerable and unbearable" strain on the NHS
Pressure is now mounting on the Government to deal with this "intolerable and unbearable" strain on the NHS.
Experts say that it is no longer acceptable to blame the pandemic for this current crisis.
In comments to the PA news agency on Tuesday, Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said it is "disingenuous to blame the current situation on the pandemic".
He added: "It is beyond doubt that Covid made a bad situation worse but the structural problems were there long before."
The Prime Minister's official spokesman says the current pressure on the health service is an "unprecedented challenge" brought about by a "number of factors."