Doctors and nurses blasted for ‘using emergency ambulances as taxis’

EMERGENCY ambulance bosses are at war with health centre doctors for what it calls inappropriate call outs.
In a letter sent to all health centres in the Valencia region the Emergency Health Service (SES) has complained that since a new transportation contract came into force at the start of August doctors have been using emergency ambulances as taxis.
The problem faced by health workers is that they now have no means of getting to outpatients who may call them for urgent care since day ambulances were withdrawn.
Doctors and nurses now have to make their own way to patients either in their private cars, by foot or taxi.
But the SES and coordination centres (CICU) say that local health staff are now “transferring” their problems onto them.
SES and CICU say they are there specifically for emergencies, and not to take health workers on home visits.
For their part doctors have reacted to the letter by criticising its tone, saying it makes it sound like they just want to get to call-outs easily.
They point out that often they get an urgent call from an outpatient, which they have to asses on the phone as to whether it is an emergency.
Rather than taking time to get to the patient first, they call an ambulance straight away if the case sounds serious.