7. SUE KEDGLEY (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Have any New Zealanders died over the last 5 years because an emergency call-out was responded to by a single-crewed ambulance with insufficient staff to treat a patient adequately and transport the patient to hospital; if so, how many?
Hon JIM ANDERTON (Acting Minister of Health) Link to this
I am advised by the Ministry of Health that no report it holds has single crewing as the primary cause of death. However, the more services and facilities that are available, of course the better it will be, and those services are being progressively provided and improved.
Is it not true that the Government has absolutely no idea how many people are dying or becoming disabled as a result of single crewing, because it monitors only ambulance response times and has no record of whether an ambulance arrived singled crewed and could treat and transport a patient properly, or was single crewed and the patient died as a result of that; if not, why not?
I can only repeat that the Ministry of Health has no information that a single-crewed ambulance was the single or major cause of any death. If the member has that information, she should provide it. What I can say is that the present level of double crewing, at 82 percent of call-outs, is the highest it has been, to my knowledge, in the history of St John Ambulance, and the Government is committed to advancing that to 100 percent just as soon as it is possible to do so.
Lesley SoperThe Government has provided considerable extra funding over the last 3 years, to achieve the present level of at least 82 percent of call-outs being double crewed. We have to remember, I advise the House, that there are 700 full-time professional St John Ambulance officers, and there are 2,500 volunteers. It is the organisation of those volunteers, particularly in rural areas, that provides major difficulties. But there has been extra funding for 67 full-time staff equivalents, and, as I say, the growth of the service towards double crewing by professional and qualified officers is increasing regularly.
Can he explain to the House how an ambulance officer is expected to drive an ambulance while at the same time providing adequate treatment to a patient in an emergency, as ambulance officers had to do in about 50,000 emergency ambulance call-outs last year?
Further to the Minister’s answer, is the Minister aware that last year approximately 50,000 emergency calls were responded to by single-crewed ambulances and that in March this year 70 percent of all emergency call-outs in the central North Island were responded to with single crews—in breach of the national standard—and does he think it is fair that the chance of someone in a life-threatening situation getting proper treatment depends on where that person lives?
My advice is that the national standard is that best endeavours will be made to have double-crewed ambulances. As I have advised the House, at the moment that level is 82 percent. I can also advise the House that there has been increased funding each year for the last 3 years for this service—averaging between 8 and 10 percent a year—67 extra full-time equivalent paid ambulance officers, as I said, and significant investment in three new technologically advanced ambulance communication centres. This Government is doing more to assist the St John Ambulance service than any other Government has done in recent memory.
Nathan GuyWhy did the Minister of Health tell the House last week that at least 82 percent of ambulance call-outs are double crewed, and that as better data becomes available it may prove the number to be higher than that, when the data supplied to me by Horowhenua ambulance staff on the ground shows that 50 percent of call-outs are single crewed; what is the Minister doing to ensure that lives are not put at risk in Horowhenua, or does he not care about that?
It may come as a surprise to the member, but the St John Ambulance service operates outside Horowhenua as well as there. The Minister was replying on the basis that 82 percent of the national service provided by St John Ambulance is double crewed. I have already indicated to the House that in rural areas, where it also has to rely on volunteers to assist with the crewing of St John Ambulances, there has also been—and still is—some difficulty. The Government is moving, with improved funding, to increase that 82 percent figure in all areas.
I seek leave to table a document showing that on 2 March a 56-year-old man in cardiac arrest was attended to by a single-crewed ambulance and the patient died.
Madam SPEAKERI seek leave to table a document showing that on 15 March a 76-year-old man had a cardiac arrest, was attended to by a single-crewed vehicle, and the patient died.
I seek leave to table a document showing that on 26 March a 64-year-old female was attended to by a single-crewed ambulance and the patient died.
I seek leave to table a document showing that a man dying from a crash in 2003 died after a single-crewed ambulance was unable to take the badly injured man to hospital—
I seek leave to table a document showing that an Auckland man died after a bee sting, when the single-crewed ambulance that attended him—
I seek leave to table a chart showing that in the Horowhenua area in March, 70 percent of the ambulances that responded to emergencies were single crewed.