The Welsh Ambulance Service has released information about a series of mishaps that includes missing equipment, patients transported from the hospital to the wrong homes, and ambulance crashes.
According to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, a total of 89 accidents occurred between January of 2007 and December of 2009.The service must document all incidents in which a patient is nearly caused harm or is actually harmed. Half of all of the incidents were due to delays from or slow response times.
Outside of the time delays, however, there are many incidents that are concerning. Among these is the fact that patients were taken to the wrong home seven times, and three times the ambulance service did not arrive to take patients into the hospital.
There were nine crashes that were the result of ambulance service vehicles and three incidents in just four days in August of 2009 when the engines of the ambulances combusted and flames shot out.
During the three year time span medicines and equipment disappeared. Also, one sexual allegation was made against a staff member, and another allegation was made over improper comments.
Liberal Democrat spokesman on health, Pete Black MP, stated that the most concerning factor that surrounds the figures is how many incidents are caused by delays alone which could be prevented.
Black continued to say that while response times have improved over the last few months, they are sill behind the national UK average in call response times.
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