The NHS is to introduce electric ambulances, raising concerns that its drive for Net Zero is being put above patient safety owing to the limited range and long charging times. The Telegraph has the story.
Paramedics fear patients will be forced to wait longer because of the hours lost recharging the vehicles, with particular concern about coverage of rural areas, given the limited range.
The move next month is part of a series of measures that whistleblowers fear put green credentials above medical priorities.
The drive had created a bureaucracy that was diverting vast sums from the front line, and placing “grossly unethical” obstacles in the way of clinical decisions, one whistleblower warned.
NHS England has set up a Greener NHS team with a combined salary bill of £3 million a year, leaked documents reveal.
Officials created 48 roles, including five on six-figure salaries, as part of efforts to pursue an environmental agenda which means every medicine and product has to undergo an “evergreen assessment”.
The 135-question process means that no decision can be taken without a product’s social values and contribution to emissions targets being considered.
One supplier alleged that devices such as plastic cannulas were routinely being rejected on environmental grounds, despite the fact they would improve patient safety.
An extra layer of bureaucracy will be added next month, with every NHS supplier asked to draw up a carbon reduction plan.
Other eco-initiatives being rolled out include “climate-friendly pain relief” for mothers in labour and chemotherapy deliveries and GP visits via e-bikes. …
Next month, electric ambulances will be piloted across swathes of the country. Under the scheme, electric ambulances will be trailed across the North West, East of England, Yorkshire, South West and London at a cost of around £150,000 each.
The West Midlands has already introduced the vehicles, although last year board papers from the West Midlands Ambulance Service revealed major concerns.
An evaluation of the pilot scheme found the ambulances took up to four hours to charge and travelled an average of 70 miles between charging, with the papers warning “range and recharge time is a significant limiting factor”.
While the vehicles had a range of 100 miles, which would cover a shift in urban areas, this would not be the case from most of its hubs, it states, adding: “Rural areas in particular are covering twice this mileage and more in a shift.” The report says that, as a minimum, ambulances need to be able to cover 160 miles.
Standard ambulances can cover up to 800 miles a day and be filled up in just minutes.
£3 million a year on 48 roles dedicated to making the NHS less efficient and less safe. No wonder the health service is such an ineffective, bureaucratic mess. And this is under a Conservative Government.
Worth reading in full.
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