Tracy Nicholls, chief executive of the College of Paramedics, told The Telegraph that ambulance staff are now often in full-time “conflict resolution” mode, as desperate patients deteriorate in car parks
The delays getting people into hospitals - in some cases more than seven hours - are exacerbating ambulance waiting times caused by staff absences due to omicron.
Reports have emerged of patients waiting in agony for more than 24 hours for an ambulance to arrive.
Ms Nicholls’ comments came in the week when it emerged that an ambulance service in the North of England was asking even heart attack victims to get a lift to hospital
Tracy Nicholls revealed that some hubs had only four out of ten vehicles operating due to the high number of paramedics off sick
“Paramedics are spending all their time apologising to everyone for their waits and distress,” she said.
“If you’ve got a tricky or awkward relationship with the patient, you could be sitting with them for several hours in the back of a metal box and tensions can build”
The Armed Forces have now been called in to drive ambulances in the North West due to the high numbers of staff ill with Covid or isolating
“It’s a terrible state of affairs... I’d hate to think people would lose trust in the ambulance service” said Ms Nicholls
Psychologist Larry Rosen has worked on eight studies of smartphone use among young people, between 2012 and 2020.
📱He sees compulsive tapping and swiping in everyone from toddlers through nonagenarians to police officers directing traffic
🧠He believes that for many people smartphones either produce or exacerbate symptoms similar to those of psychological disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or attention deficit disorder
👑 The Duchess of Cambridge has drawn on four generations of queens for landmark photographs to celebrate her 40th birthday, encapsulating the past, present and future of the Royal Family
The Duchess, who marks her milestone birthday on Sunday, has posed for a series of images for the National Portrait Gallery, as she uses her education in the history of art to help curate her own image for posterity
📸Taking influence from the work of era-defining royal photographers such as Cecil Beaton, the Duchess has also channelled her admiration for Victorian photography for a series of three very different images
An ailing Lancashire community is now the poster child for a movement that might change rural life for ever.
The library, shop, community centre and pub are all owned and run by the people who call Trawden home
🌳An ageing population, local-authority neglect and regional underfunding: Trawden’s decline followed a pattern repeated in rural communities across the country and around the world telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/0…
Steven Wilcock, the 67-year-old founding father of the extraordinary initiative says:
🗣️"Something had to be done or our community spirit might never recover"
"It is a truly blood chilling thing to discover a faceless stranger who wants to do you and your family serious harm, knows exactly where you live, has stood outside your house, and taken note of the cars that are parked in your drive" writes Louise
"It is hard to talk about what happened and is not something that I do lightly.
🗣️"The reason I am choosing to do so is to send a clear message to anyone who has been a victim of similar abuse that they are not alone, they are not powerless"
🚨BREAKING: Fourth jabs are not currently needed, the Government’s scientific advisers have said, amid increasing evidence that omicron is far more mild than previous variants
💉The JCVI said that boosters are continuing to provide high levels of protection against severe disease from omicron in older adults, including the most vulnerable
📊JCVI analysis found that three months after they received the third jab, protection against hospitalisation among those aged 65 and over remains at about 90%.
With two vaccine doses, protection against severe disease drops to about 70% after three months and to 50% after six
⚫️Heathcliff O'Malley's story is the first episode in a video and podcast series 'I Witnessed History', featuring Telegraph journalists who were on the frontline of some of recent history's most important events
"It was like a beautiful summer's day, then I heard this enormous roar"