Ambulance service in crisis, says union

There is a growing crisis in the ambulance service because of ageing ambulances and under-trained staff, according to trade union Abvakabo in Monday’s Algemene Dagblad.


The union’s Fred Seifert told the paper the ageing ambulances can take too long to reach the scene of an accident and incident rooms often send the wrong kind of help to an emergency.
The ambulance service is in crisis, with growing complaints about the work pressure and increasing complaints from patients, he said.
Changes are needed quickly to improve the service. ‘An ambulance with two paramedics is increasingly replaced by an ambulance motorbike,’ according to Seifert. ‘If the patient cannot ride pillion, there is a delay while a proper ambulance is sent for.’
The sector organisation Ambulancezorg Nederland says it does not think this is a general view of the service, but that it will discuss the problems with the union later on Monday.

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