Paramedics face a "horrendous" dilemma every shift as a "rot" takes over the NHS.
With staff shortages across the NHS, and pressures on the health service rising as we head into the winter months, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) warned the system is "gridlocked". This is evident outside emergency departments where there are hours-long queues of paramedics, who've been unable to respond to 117,000 urgent 999 calls each month because they're stuck outside hospitals looking after patients, according to a CQC report.
Three weeks after the new Royal Liverpool Hospital opened, a queue of "over 26 ambulances" was waiting outside for hours, leaving ambulance crews to continue treating patients onboard until their care was signed over to the hospital. Patients can only be "left safely" if it's clinically appropriate and ambulance crews have followed a handover safety checklist, according to the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).
