73 assaults on ambulance staff

The amount of untoward incidents escalated from 155 in 2008/9 to 244 in 2009/10 and to 366 last year.

Alarmingly, there were a shameful 73 assaults on paramedics over the past three years. Fifty-two physical assaults (eight with a weapon) and 41 verbal assaults were suffered by staff.

Elsewhere one serious adverse incident - involving a female doctor being seriously injured during a hospital transfer in Fermanagh - was reported earlier this year and prompted a joint investigation between NIAS and the Western Trust.

The doctor was injured when an ambulance crashed whilst transferring a patient from the Erne Hospital to Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital.

The Sentinel has learned a first draft report on the incident has been completed and is now being reviewed.

Meanwhile, ambulance staff also experienced communication problems on 77 occasions over the past three years whilst items were recorded as unavailable or missing on 68 occasions.

NIAS also reported 62 road accidents and 35 breakdowns over the period. NIAS buildings or vehicles in the Western Division were vandalised 11 times over the three years.

NIAS provided the details in response to a Sentinel Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

It was provided with the provision “that the incidents may not have occurred in the Western area as it is not held in this format but is based on resources that operate within the Western Divisional area.”

Within the Department of Health, social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) incident reporting is regarded as a method for alerting other parts of the organisation to issues that, if left unattended, may pose a risk in future to service users or the health and safety of staff, visitors, contractors and others that may be affected by its operations.