Taxis used 15 times to get to heart patients because ambulance was not available

The Trust was the only health authority in Northern Ireland to send cardiology staff to urgent call-outs in taxis. DUP MLA George Robinson said it was totally unacceptable that taxis were ferrying under pressure staff to "urgent" calls and this was a tragedy waiting to happen.

Any of the patients seen by the cardiac team who required admission to hospital were subsequently transported by an ambulance, it can also be revealed.

Health minister Michael McGimpsey made the revelation in response to a question tabled at the Stormont Assembly.

The Minister said an increase in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) budget would allow him to further invest in cardiac services in future.

"In the past twelve months there have been 15 occurrences of a taxi being used by cardiac units to respond to an urgent call because an ambulance was not available," said Mr McGimpsey.

"These instances occurred within the Western Health and Social Care Trust and were consistent with the agreed protocols that ensure patients who require emergency out of hospital cardiac care receive the medical attention they require without delay.

"In these circumstances taxis were used to transport clinical staff to the patient. Any patient seen by a cardiac team who then required admission to hospital will have been transported by ambulance.

"An increase in the DHSSPS budget would allow me to invest in cardiac services going forward."

But DUP MLA for East Londonderry George Robinson says the revelation confirmed all the fears about the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service he has highlighted in recent years.

He commented: "The Minister admits that the NIAS is so short of vehicles that urgently needed medical teams are dispatched to cardiac patients by taxi, and then an ambulance is sent if it is required.

"This situation is one that is just waiting for a tragedy to occur. The NIAS staff themselves must feel under increased pressure due to the lack of ambulance support on these 15 occasions.

"The Minister admits these were urgent calls that were responded to by taxi, therefore there should have been no question as to whether an ambulance was sent to the call."

He continued: "The Minister tries to throw us off the main point by saying that patients were seen within the agreed timescale, sorry Minister but you have failed to address the central issue which is why no ambulance was available in these instances. Indeed the answer raises more questions than it addresses: Why were no ambulances available? How many patients were admitted to hospital when clinicians attended in a taxi? What was the cost to the Trust and public purse of the taxis? What is the Minister going to do to ensure more ambulance are available?"

A spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Trust said: "Coronary Care teams in Western Trust hospitals infrequently engage taxis to get to patients with potential cardiac conditions where an ambulance may not be immediately available.

"This enables rapid transport of cardiology staff to the patient. The patient is then treated, stabilized and, if required, transported to hospital by ambulance. The patient is not transported to hospital by taxi in these instances.

"Given the small number of occasions where cardiology services are provided in these instances, providing a further break-down with regard to diagnosis could lead to identification of a patient's medical condition. Patients are entitled to confidentiality with regard to their medical condition and treatment."

Just over a year ago the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) came in for criticism after the Sentinel reported how an expectant mother involved in a road smash outside Altnagelvin hospital had to wait for an ambulance to come from Limavady.

And during the summer the Sentinel reported how ambulance staff in Londonderry were being paid overtime to crew an additional emergency service vehicle for 84 hours every week just two months after core front-line A&E ambulance hours were slashed at Altnagelvin.

The reduction kicked in on April 1 and is an attempt to make what the DHSSPS and NIAS describe as "efficiency savings."