Ambulance Services: Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust

We investigated a complaint made by Ms B, onbehalf of her father Mr A, that thecare and treatment provided by paramedics on 31 October 2022 did notreach an appropriate standard. Specifically, Ms B complained that the decision not to take Mr A tohospital via ambulance as an emergency, adversely affected investigation andtreatment for an infection.

The Ombudsman found that the care and treatmentof Mr A by paramedics on 31 October was acceptable. Although Mr A was unwell, the assessmentsand observations carried out by paramedics appropriately determined that he didnot require emergency support. Havingchecked with Mr A’s GP, paramedics confirmed that Mr A should still attendthe hospital that day for blood tests to further investigate his symptoms butthat, as a non-emergency situation, it did not require emergency ambulance(“EA”) transport to facilitate that. MrA presented with the same symptoms at hospital the next day and recordedsimilar observations (to those taken by paramedics the previous day). The decision not to transport Mr A via EA hasnot been determined to have had a detrimental impact for him. As a result, the complaint was not upheld.