Ambulance service slammed for plan to call cabs to get patients to hospital ‘to take pressure off emergency vehicles’
Several groups have voiced major concerns because cab drivers are not trained paramedics
ONE of Britain's biggest ambulance services today started using TAXIS to take patients to hospital due to a shortage of emergency vehicles.
The new pilot scheme will see South Central Ambulance Service booking and paying for cars instead in a bid to ease the pressure on ambulance call outs over the winter.
It is hoped the project will free up emergency vehicles for patients with more serious conditions, and those with minor injuries can instead travel by taxi for treatment.
But the service has come in for immediate criticism, including from an MP who pointed out that cab drivers are not trained paramedics.
Pressure groups also called on the trust to make it clear exactly what savings could be made for taxpayers, as it emerged that a fixed budget for the project has not yet been set.
South Central Ambulance Service is rolling out the taxi replacement scheme in Portsmouth, Hants, and has moved to calm patient concerns.
It states that only people who request an ambulance for a minor injury which requires hospital treatment, such as a dislocated finger, will have a taxi booked and paid for.
Rob Kemp, head of operations for south-east Hampshire at SCAS, said: "This project is about using a taxi service for very well patients who we sometimes have to convey to hospital for minor injuries.
"We are bringing in the pilot from today to help ease the pressure in the winter period. Demand has already started to increase.
"We have this terrible position where poorly patients are waiting while our resources are with other people. We can free up these resources with this taxi service.
"Our obligations are to make sure we have the resources for our poorly patients. They are our priority."
A decision could be made when a patient calls 999 and tells the call-handler why they need an ambulance, and if it is thought to be minor, a taxi will be sent.
Or, if a paramedic arrives and deems the injury to be slight and an ambulance is not needed, a taxi will be ordered.
Mr Kemp added: "A decision would be made only if it is entirely appropriate."
Mr Kemp said all the taxi drivers have been "rigorously checked" by SCAS, the NHS and the local authority, including undergoing Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks like ambulance staff.
He added: "I can see how it would make people nervous but if they access it the same way as an ambulance and it is following a specialist assessment, then it will work.
"We see all patients as our responsibility and we will be checking on how the pilot is going."
South Central Ambulance Service provides ambulance services to Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire, and a Care Quality Commission report in May this year rated the service as "good" despite it missing response time targets.
MPs in the area and patient groups today raised concerns about the project, saying more details are needed.
Conservative Portsmouth South MP Flick Drummond, 54, said: "Taxi drivers aren't trained paramedics.
"I do have concerns about this and would like to see some more details."
A fixed budget has not been set aside for the project as SCAS is unsure of the number of patients who will fit into the category of being suitable for the taxi service.
Healthwatch Portsmouth, which makes sure patients' views are heard on a number of health and social care topics, also had reservations.
A spokesman said: "Although this seems like it could become a solution to helping ease pressure on the ambulance service, there are some concerns.
"It would have been good to have some consultation first with patients to see what they think.
"I can imagine some people being nervous in getting in a taxi."
Fareham MP Suella Fernandes, 36, however believes the scheme could ease demand on ambulances.
She said: "I spent time with South Central Ambulance Service on call outs – they provide a very special service, working tirelessly to treat people with serious conditions.
"But I also witnessed that they are called out too often to people with minor or urgent, but non-emergency, conditions.
"When a medical emergency is obvious or a person is in a life-threatening condition then an ambulance is absolutely necessary.
"With A&E and ambulance services under pressure people need to think carefully before calling out an ambulance.
"People who require urgent care or A&E but are not in a life-threatening condition should seek alternative ways to getting to A&E.
"Using taxis may help to ease pressure on SCAS, ensuring those in genuine medical emergencies get the best possible response and treatment."
John O'Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "When times are hard, everything must be done to keep costs down and authorities must find the most efficient way of transporting patients.
"The use of taxis may well ease the pressure on the ambulance services so it isn't an inherently bad idea, but hard-pressed taxpayers will want to know that savings actually have been made."
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