– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Ambulance

[music]

service is the patient breathing.

In an emergency situation, [music] every

minute counts.

And with cardiac arrest, for every

minute that CPR isn't performed, your

chances of survival decrease by 10%.

[music]

If he's not already, lay him onto his

back on the floor. Have you done that?

>> Okay.

>> Okay. Kneel by his side

>> and put one hand flat in the center

center of his chest.

>> Put the other hand on top and lock your

fingers together. And then keeping your

arm straight, push down hard and fast.

Don't be afraid to push too hard. Push

about two times a second. Push. Push.

Say push out loud. Push. Push. Push.

Push. Push. Push. Push. Push. Push.

Really good. Push. Push. Push. Push.

Push. Push, push, push, push, push,

push, push, push. [music] Yes,

>> keep going. You're doing really well.

>> Oh, yeah. He's cropping now.

>> He's puffing.

>> Is he pushing you off?

>> Is he pushing [music] you off?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay. Okay. All right. Okay.

>> Bear with me.

>> Bear with me.

>> Put a N in the system.

>> What do I say?

>> Is he waking up?

>> Is he waking up?

>> Put it in your N.

>> [music]

>> This call handler's just saved her life.

>> Thank you so much. You did brilliantly.

Help me right out.

>> But she's also an undercover reporter

working for dispatches. [music]

>> Help me. Help. Don't help me. Don't help

me.

>> She's discovering dangerous delays.

>> She's gone into shock. I need someone

here now. I need an ambulance. Response

time is estimated to be 3 hours and 56

minutes. [music] Um, that's

>> Oh my gosh.

>> We've normalized a government

performance that would have been unheard

of before.

>> Revealing how people are let down when

they need help the most.

>> I phon the police and they're telling me

to phone you.

>> Take somebody here.

>> I made five. What do you expect me to

[music] be able to do?

>> I just look at our ambulance service

with complete mistrust. and uncovering

the difference between what callers are

told and what's really going on.

>> We're telling them that an ambulance is

being arranged,

>> but they're not actually getting an

ambulance.

>> Take care. Bye-bye. There are some

amazing parts of being a call handler,

but equally, you're also there when

things don't go right and when people

are rightfully upset and scared because

of that.

>> This is the truth about what happens

when you dial 999. [music]

>> [music]

>> We all like to believe that if you're

having a medical emergency, the NHS will

come to the rescue,

but our reporter is discovering [music]

that's not always the case.

>> Describe to me what happened. I went to

come down the stairs and I I went down

the lot from top to bottom.

>> I took a call from an 85year-old woman

with a suspected broken arm. The

computer system call handlers use is

called NHS Pathways. At first, it

recommends she gets herself to hospital.

>> Um, so someone else would need to drive

you and you would need to take any

medicine.

>> I've not got a car and I can't get

there. I need an ambulance. I'm sorry,

but I'm 85. What do you expect me to be

able [laughter] to do?

>> Call handlers aren't medically trained

and I can't overrule the computer's

instructions. So, I have to refer her to

a clinician who will decide if she

qualifies for an ambulance.

>> Get somebody here.

>> I need a clinician to call you back to

be able to assess the problem because we

need to make sure that we're getting

exactly the right help for you.

>> An ambulance is the right help to get me

to hospital to get an X-ray. So that if

it's broken, they need to put it in

plastered, won't they? I mean, you don't

have to be a clinician to work that one

out. Surely

>> because you've got the coldness in your

arm and as well as the injury that

>> Yes. But it still boils down to the same

thing, doesn't it? It needs attention

quickly.

>> Yeah. A collision will call you back as

soon as one is available. How bad does

it have to be before you do it?

>> How bad does it have to be? She's in her

80s. She's got no way to get to hospital

and she's in immense pain and she's

probably broken her arm, maybe her

shoulder.

>> I'm going to get that transferred over

now.

>> Okay, take care. Bye-bye.

As far as Pathways was concerned, she

was to refer herself to a treatment

center. And I just find it really

upsetting.

>> Such a wet wipe.

>> The simple fact that we don't have the

number of doctors and nurses we would

need to deliver the [music] model of

care we want. Increasingly, the sickest

patients are being prioritized. But what

we're seeing is that over time you have

to be sicker and sicker to get into that

top bracket.

>> The caller did eventually get an

ambulance, but we discovered that

[music] at times of extreme pressure, a

no send policy is triggered, meaning

callers will be told that although they

need an ambulance, they won't be getting

one.

>> We went into no send once during my time

undercover on a summer's evening.

139 people are waiting for a call back.

5 hours for a C2. A 68-year-old with

trauma to the head. 8 hours and 40

minutes for a 90-year-old who's in her

head. It's just hundreds of calls for

call backs.

>> Call handlers are told not to reveal the

no send [music] policy in case this

upsets patients. A supervisor explains

[music]

what to say instead. They asked them to

make their own way instead of wait for

an ambulance because we're so busy.

>> So they're telling people to make their

own way. We're not saying that we're not

giving them one. We're saying to them,

we're so busy you are going to be

waiting hours.

>> What we're seeing happening [music] in

real time is a redrawing of what is an

emergency. We're absolutely at a moment

of dire performance for health care

services, emergency [music] services in

this country.

Nationally, [music] the ambulance

service is busier than ever before.

Here at the Southeast [music] Coast

Ambulance Service, nearly a million 999

calls come in a year, [music]

but it's been struggling. And the health

watchdog says it needs improvement.

To find out why, reporter Hei Johnson is

working undercover for 8 weeks as a 999

call handler. The first voice you hear

in an emergency.

[music]

>> When people are calling 999, they can be

quite distressed, [music] upset, scared.

It's relentless. And I'm already seeing

what massive pressure the service is

under. The delays, [music] the missed

targets, the patients put at risk.

It's not just people at the bottom of

the priority pile who struggle to get an

ambulance. Those with life-threatening

[music]

conditions do too.

Because I'm new to the job, an

experienced [music] call handler is

watching over me.

>> Is the Is the patient conscious?

>> He's unresponsive completely.

>> I took one call from a mother whose son

um had type 1 diabetes. He was

unconscious. He was in a diabetic coma.

This is the third time now that I've

rung up today within the last 40

minutes.

>> It's urgent. Without swift treatment, he

could be fatal. He could suffer brain

damage or die.

>> Unconscious adult.

>> So, he's not conscious. He's not

responding to you.

>> No, he's not responding to me at all.

>> Okay.

>> The computer flags a category 2

emergency, the same level as a heart

attack.

The national NHS target for this is an

ambulance on the scene in 18 minutes,

but this call has already waited double

that.

>> If you can [music] just keep supporting

his head until help arrives or until

someone can take over.

>> The NHS as a whole has not hit the

18minute target for 5 years.

>> So, it's settled on a temporary target

of [music] 30 minutes instead.

>> Um, so we are coming as quickly as we

can. I can't imagine if that was my son

in that situation just watching them get

worse and worse. There was nothing I

could really say apart from I'm sorry

and they'll be [music] with you as soon

as they can.

>> Oh, you any other concerns just call us

back on 999. Okay.

>> The ambulance arrived soon after that

call but well outside any target time.

>> That's a bit scary.

>> Collapse.

>> Helen Morgan was elected to parliament

after campaigning to speed up Amler's

response times in Shropshire.

I don't have words for that. That's

that's really shocking. It's going to

feel like a lifetime for that mother. I

I feel desperately sorry for them. The

current weight times are well beyond the

target and that's that's not acceptable.

In the control room, a display warns

when pressure mounts.

Delays often build because ambulances

are stuck outside crowded A&E unable to

hand over patients.

Surge level three is quite a lot of

pressure on the service and it can

compromise patient care. And surge level

four is the maximum level of pressure on

the [music] service.

During my time undercover, we were

mostly at levels three [music] and four,

especially at night.

>> Oh god. 2our 13 C2 waiting for very

long. 2 hours for a C2. It's meant to

[music] be 18 minutes.

>> He's struggling. He's got a lung section

and he's struggling to breathe. Do you

think the emergency is going to be here

so much after emergency continues to be

seen now?

>> Um the current estimated wait time in

the area is an hour and 34 minutes.

That's not

>> Oh my god. No. I'll take him now. I'll

take him now. He can't bleed. We need

the ambulance now.

>> And is he conscious?

>> Uh no. He's just fallen down the stairs

and basted his head and his head's

bleeding.

>> We are extremely busy this evening and

we are experiencing delays of up to 2

hours and 11 minutes. Well, he can't

stay outside here for 2 hours. The

ground is boiling and he's laying on the

ground.

>> It's not just a problem for Southeast

Coast.

Using Freedom of Information [music]

Requests, we've discovered that last

year across England, almost 140,000

people with category 2 emergencies,

including suspected heart attacks and

strokes, waited more than 2 hours for an

ambulance. That's well outside the

18-minute target.

I regularly saw over an hour, over two

hours as the longest wait for category 2

calls. I would just expect for a heart

attack, you'd call 999 and they'd be

there. But no.

>> So, I heard you got some chest pain.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. Where else is the pain?

It was in my right arm. It feels like

it's going right across his whole back

and then my like neck and just under my

jaw.

>> A man called up with chest pain. It was

likely he was having a heart attack or

experiencing some kind of cardiac

condition.

>> Yeah, it's really bad. I feel like

someone was sitting in my chest.

>> Okay. An emergency ambulance is being

arranged. Um Right.

>> Um and is is that was that your wife

earlier? Will she stay with you until

the arrives?

>> Yeah.

With a suspected heart attack, every

moment it's left untreated raises the

risk of damage to the heart or death.

>> Do you know roughly how long?

>> So, the estimated waiting time in your

area um is an hour and 45 minutes, but

that's just the longest that someone has

waited.

>> Okay. I was just wondering if I should

just try and get him there myself. I'm

just

>> That's up to you. That That's the That's

the longest waiting time. Would

we ever we So when someone says, "Oh, I

might make my own way." Then

>> what's the line there?

>> Put it back on them. That's It's up to

them.

>> So we're not allowed to say you like

it's But if they want to make their own

way, that's absolutely fine.

>> But we're not allowed to advise like

probably best for you to make your own

way.

>> The main thought is that if I was having

a heart attack, I'd want to know what

I've meant to do. You call 999 and you

sort of want clarity. You want to know

what to do. You want someone to help

you. Made me wonder what would I do?

What happened to that person? What were

they meant to do?

We tracked Chris and Amy down to [music]

find out what happened after their 999

call.

>> So, I heard you got some chest pain. Is

that right?

>> Yeah. Where else is the pain?

>> Just start getting pains in the front of

my chest. He's in the bathroom. Amy must

have got up.

>> I woke up and noticed he wasn't there.

Found him in the bathroom in lots of

pain.

>> And my arm was hurting all up around my

jaw, all up around the back of my head.

And she said, "I'm going to call you an

ambulance." Then [music]

>> the ambulance is being arranged.

>> Okay. Do you know roughly how long? So,

the estimated [music]

waiting time in your area um is an hour

and 45 minutes, but that's just the

longest that

>> I [music] was just panicked that if he

was then to go into a cardiac arrest,

>> like what would what would happen? Like,

what would we do?

>> I was just wondering whether I should

just try and get him there myself. I'm

just

>> That is completely up to you.

>> What does up to you mean? You're leaving

it in our hands and we're not medical

experts.

>> Chris and Amy waited. Eventually, an

ambulance [music] freed up and reached

them in 25 minutes.

>> Even that was [clears throat] too long.

The ambulance turn up as we was getting

ready to leave.

>> Chris was rushed to hospital and later

had a heart operation.

He's still recovering.

>> Talking to the doctor and he said, "No,

you done the right thing while waiting."

The consequence of getting in the

ambulance was they [music] took me

straight to Reus. They got the monitors

on me straight away. When you're in a

dilemma like emergency situation, which

it was, you don't know what the right

choice is.

>> In three English regions, one in 10

category 2 callers wait over an hour.

>> Just confirm you don't want the

ambulance.

>> So many can ambulances today for me.

>> Third of the calls that I took tonight

were from patients requesting to cancel

the ambulance.

people call up and then end up canceling

it because of the long waiting time. I

just find it all really troubling

>> going to hospital [music] under your own

steam. It's a workaround. That is not a

solution. Paramedics in this country are

highly trained to [music] administer at

times life-saving treatment at the

scene. So that is fundamentally

different to driving yourself to

hospital. They know the best place to

[music] take you. But I wouldn't know

that. You wouldn't know that. A

paramedic would.

in a system already at breaking point.

>> Uh just regarding a lady who's 91 who

has fallen and has been on the floor for

about 40 minutes, unable to get up.

>> What happens when you're considered the

lowest priority? [music]

>> This has been categorized as a C3

response. We aim to be with the patient

within 11 hours and 40 minutes.

So, we've just spoken to my

mother-in-law. She's not putting

sentences together. She's saying words

wrong. Um, like she just said AKO

instead of A and E.

>> Okay.

>> So, I think she might be having a

stroke.

>> When someone [music] is having a stroke,

every minute matters. Fast treatment can

be the difference [music] between life

and death or disability. That's why

strokes are category 2 emergencies with

the target response of [music] 18

minutes.

>> That emergency is being arranged and it

is running one of our high priority

calls, but we are just very busy this

evening and we are experiencing delays

of up to an hour and 12 minutes.

>> If the wait is that long, the woman

might miss out on [music] vital

treatment.

>> Hello.

>> Hello. Is the ambulance service here?

And when she comes on the line, it's

clear why she needs help. [music]

>> And could you just confirm the address

for me?

>> It's um the £3.

>> That's okay.

>> I woke up a bit strange this morning.

I'm not working properly.

Sorry, not speaking properly. I can't

keep my words straight.

>> Okay, understood.

I think the thing that shocked me most

was when she said how busy we are. That

was a real hearttoppping moment for me.

It's absolutely critical that stroke is

treated as a medical emergency because

time is brain for every minute. Nearly 2

million brain cells in the brain are

lost. And we know that the treatments

are much more effective when they're

delivered early.

>> In the case our reporter dealt with,

we've established an ambulance reached

the woman within 20 minutes. boosting

the chances of successful treatment.

But response times are a lottery. In the

Southeast Coast region, 450 suspected

stroke patients waited over 2 hours for

an ambulance last year.

And across England and Wales, dispatches

has uncovered 13,000 suspected stroke

patients also waited that long with

potentially devastating results.

[music]

>> [music]

>> I met Susan in 2015.

Such a lovely person.

We just [music] ended up seeing each

other all of the time.

Last December, Rob discovered Susan on

the floor and died 999.

Uh when my girlfriend's collapsed on the

um Susan, I think she had a stroke. She

collapsed on the toilet. Her face is

drooping on one side.

>> Okay.

>> See just slurred.

>> And I thought that was it. You know,

help would be on its way.

>> When the ambulance didn't [music]

arrive, Rob called 999 twice more.

>> I need you to tell me exactly what's

happened. [music]

>> She's had a stroke. This is the third

call I've had to make. I've reported all

the details.

>> But it took [music] 2 hours to reach

them.

That was a long time. And I thought,

[music] she's going to die here in front

of us.

It was one of the most horrible things

I've ever experienced in my life.

>> Nobody can be certain [music] if earlier

treatment would have helped. But the

ambulance response meant Susan never

stood a chance.

>> Can you lean to the left? There we go.

Let's get you get you sorted. Get that

one there.

Susan's [music] stroke has taken away

our life.

>> I can't walk and I can't use my [music]

left arm or hand.

>> Get Susan in position here.

It's also affected Susan's memory

shortterm [music] and longterm.

>> Right. Are you ready?

>> I think the crulest thing is she can't

read. [music]

>> I used to go out and do stuff. It's very

frustrating.

can't golf like I can't make him a cup

of tea or I used to make his breakfast

puppet.

>> Ready?

>> Yes. [music]

>> Steady. Stand.

>> The earlier they intervened, the less

brain damage Susan would have [music]

had.

Southwest Ambulance Service told us they

offer their sincere [music] apologies to

Susan. They say the delay was

unacceptable, but at the time their

service was under extreme pressure.

What happened to Susan could happen

[music] to anyone.

I would like to think we could trust in

our ambulance service, but I just look

at them with complete [music] mistrust.

I mean, it's not acceptable.

>> The really sad [music] thing is that Rob

and Susan's quality of life is seriously

impaired. Her outcome could have been so

very, very different.

We are seeing unacceptable [music]

delays in ambulance response times. And

for those patients who miss out on the

treatment window, it's heartbreaking.

>> Not every 99 call is life or death.

About one in five are what the ambulance

service terms category 3es. Urgent calls

including falls, assaults, or mental

health incidents. The target is to

respond to most within 2 hours.

>> I fell uh last night and I can't get up.

So,

>> okay. I'm see you on the floor right

now.

>> Yes.

>> Many of these callers are in terrible

pain and need urgent assessment. I can

see his ligament or his muscles or

something actually moving within his

leg.

>> So, uh, I just cut my leg on a piece of

glass here and and it's like really

really deep. It's got really bad really

hurt.

>> You need to stay calm. I can't arrange

whether she stay calm.

>> They often lose [music] out because

ambulances are diverted to more

life-threatening emergencies.

>> We're not moving any more than on her

back because her foot is at a right

angle to where it should be.

>> An emergency ambulance has been

arranged. The response time is estimated

to be 3 hours and 56 minutes. [music]

Um,

>> oh my god.

>> The NHS target is to [music] reach most

of these cases within 2 hours.

>> Figures seen by dispatches showed

[music] that at Southeast Coast 1 in 10

take 4 and 1/2 hours. One of the worst

figures in the country.

>> So it should [music] be 2 hours roughly.

So we should get to that patient in 2

hours. But do we ever get to that

patient in 2 hours? No.

>> During my 19 shifts undercover, there

were always cat 3s with massively long

wait times.

>> And what's the reason for the call?

>> We're in the middle of the field. The

boy fell down from the bicycle and I can

see the bones under the skin that's

sticking out.

[music]

>> The mother called on behalf of her

teenage son and she was by herself and

scared. They'd been on a walk. He was

fell off his bike and [music] broke

either his collarbone or his shoulder.

Um he was on the floor and couldn't

move.

So an emergency ambulance has been

arranged and the response time is

estimated to be 6 hours. We're it might

not be that long, but that's the longest

that someone has had to wait in your

area.

The estimated waiting time was 6 hours,

which if right would have them picked up

by the ambulance at 2:00 a.m. in the

morning.

>> Okay. And is there any way to know what

it's going to be here before that?

Because he is in pain. Pain.

>> He is on the ground on his back. He

can't move.

>> We're extremely busy at the moment.

>> I understand that, but we've got no way

of getting out of here.

>> We don't know if the boy ever got an

ambulance, and if so, how long it took.

But we've discovered almost all category

3 calls are sent to clinicians who will

phone patients back to [music] see if an

ambulance is really necessary.

Although the callers are told something

different

>> to offer further support. A clinician

will try to call you back to do a

further clinical assessment whilst you

wait.

>> I was taken through this validation

process during my training.

>> Cat please were saying an ambulance

response is arranged. However, from what

we think you'd benefit from further

clinical assessments, so we'll get a

clinician to call you back. They will

then go into a validation stack. The

clinicians will review it and they might

sand it down and they'll deal with that.

Which is why we never say an ambulance

is on its way.

>> Well, if I was told that an ambulance is

being arranged, I would immediately be

thinking that an ambulance is either on

its way to me already or being

redirected to me. I wouldn't immediately

be thinking people are still debating

whether or not I need an ambulance in

the first place.

[music]

>> We've discovered this process has been

implemented across England.

At Southeast Coast, clinicians are

supposed to review these cases within 30

minutes.

>> These are patients that should be called

back as soon as possible.

But sometimes we

have them wait for hours and all of them

they are like poorly. I've seen calls

waiting for 7 hours and it's a

validation call.

>> If you send somebody to a triage and

it's a very serious issue and you need

an ambulance to come straight away, then

that triage needs to happen quickly. If

people are waiting hours and hours for

the triage, then I would I would say

that was ineffective.

Southeast Coast Ambulance Service told

us they've made measurable progress over

the last 3 years, resulting in category

2 response times averaging 28 minutes,

better than the national standard.

They say there is more to do to reduce

our waiting times further and now

[music] give clearer information.

They apologize to any patient whose

experience has fallen short of the

standards we work hard to deliver. And

no, prolonged delays can cause

additional distress.

The national [music] mental health

crisis is adding to the stress on the

999 system.

>> I've phoned the police and they're

telling me to phone you.

>> And patients are falling between the

cracks of the emergency services. This

man is in serious danger.

>> And what's the reason for the call?

>> Potential overdose. And she's currently

slicing her wrist with a knife in front

of me.

>> Of the roughly 400 calls I took, I was

struck by how many related to mental

health and how serious they were.

So, at the moment, what are you most

concerned about? Is it is it your mental

health?

>> Yeah, I will kill myself tomorrow.

>> I took about 50 tablets.

>> Was that um an attempt to end your life?

>> Yes.

>> Most mental health calls get a lower

priority category 3 response.

>> Oh god. Longest weight 11 hours. The

longest C3 wait that I've seen has been

like 11 and 1/2 hours. Someone telling

you that they want to end their life.

Hearing that over the phone and then

knowing that they could be waiting hours

and hours for an ambulance. It's a

really hard part about the job.

>> She's got quite a robust plan involving

taking an overdose.

>> Okay.

>> And I'm extremely concerned about her.

>> I took a call from a mental health

worker who had spoken to someone with

plans to end [music] their life. There

really is some risk clear.

>> Okay. Yeah, understood. Like I said, an

emergency ambulance has been arranged

and it's being [music] categorized as a

C3 response. Um, but in the meantime, I

am going to try and call her to assess

her [music] directly.

>> And what what's the main problem at the

moment?

>> It's just my mental health, that's all.

>> And have things got so bad that you're

thinking about ending up your life?

>> Yes, definitely. Yes. Don't want to go

through it again. I'm not going to go

through that again. I'm just going to

take my time and just end my life. I

just don't want it anymore.

>> Do you feel like During the training, we

only had 1 hour on mental health and it

totally failed to prepare me for the

complexity of those calls. The computer

told me to talk to her reassuringly,

>> but I felt helpless and I remember

thinking, gosh, I'd like some training

for this.

Until recently, the police might have

helped [music] with a welfare check,

but we've discovered serious concerns

about [music] a new national policy

intended to free up police resources to

fight crime.

The right care, right person [music]

scheme introduced in 2023 means police

now only respond when there is an

immediate risk to life or of serious

harm.

In theory, this policy is a [music]

positive thing because often the police

are not the right people to respond when

someone's in a mental health crisis. And

a lot of the time it can be quite

stigmatizing to have police arrive

[music] when when you haven't committed

a crime. You're just really struggling.

However, you're seeing [music]

um millions of hours of police time

being removed

and the [music] health services,

voluntary service are being expected to

step in, but with no additional [music]

resource.

Our reporter encountered situations

where desperate callers couldn't get

help from the police or the NHS, leaving

them confused [music] about where to

turn to during a mental health crisis.

Ambulance

service. Is the patient breathing?

>> I don't know.

>> A woman concerned for her suicidal

friend called in.

>> Okay. Could I take the address? His

address.

>> I don't know. I phoned the police and

they said you have to liaz with them.

>> We need We need an address to be able to

send an ambulance.

I don't know the address. I've phoned

the police

>> and they're telling me to phone you.

>> I know. I'm sorry.

>> To lies with them.

>> I'm afraid that

>> this man is in serious danger.

>> I understand. I'm really I know this is

really difficult. I'm afraid that's not

how it works. We can't send an ambulance

unless we have an address.

>> Um but

>> they told me you would phone them cuz

you have his address. No, they'd have to

if you phoned them, they would have to

phone us.

>> The police know that we can't arrange

help without an address.

>> If they're a suicide risk and they could

kill themselves, then every minute

wasted sending people back and forth

between services is a minute that

[music] puts them more at risk.

>> We don't have the facilities to be able

to find his address, whereas the police

do.

>> It's just not good enough, is it? being

passed between the police and ambulance

service is just not okay. It is

absolutely critical that those

partnerships are strong and that there's

really clear communication. This call is

evidence of serious shortcomings in in

the implementation of the right care

right person policy because ultimately

people in a mental health crisis in an

emergency situation are falling through

the gaps between services.

At least six coroners have issued

reports flagging concerns about the

policy and detailing how officers were

not deployed to vulnerable people in

urgent need. [music]

>> Time and again, it wasn't clear whether

a mental health call would be dealt with

by the police officers or ambulance

crews. [music]

>> My wife seems like she's suffering some

kind of um maybe mental breakdown. She's

talking to herself. Um, she's saying

some very nasty things to everybody.

It's just scaring everybody. I'm

concerned, you know, for my kids and

obviously my elderly parents.

>> Do you think that she could like harm or

attack anyone?

>> Yes, I think she could.

>> My computer flagged [music] the police

should attend because of the potential

risk of violence.

>> With the help of my mentor, I give them

a call.

>> Control room. Hi, Cam.

>> Hi. Um, can we request your attendance,

please? But the police control [music]

room say they won't send anyone.

>> I have clarified with my team leader

that it is you to attend first of all

and then if your crew feel threatened

when they arrive on scene, then they

call us for attendance.

[music]

>> It's decided a clinician will call the

man back. But for now, neither police

nor ambulance are on their way.

Southeast Coast Ambulance told us

they're working to improve the

experience of those we care for with

mental health needs and that they are

working with partners on how these calls

are [music] prioritized and managed.

The National Police Chief's Council said

the right care, right person policy

makes sure our communities receive an

appropriate response from the

professionals who are best equipped to

support them.

Police will always respond where there

is a real and immediate risk to the life

of a person or risk of serious harm.

>> I'm sure there are incidents that the

police still attend, but in the vast

majority it feels as if ambulance

workers have just been abandoned and

left to deal with all incidents on their

own. And we believe it the whole policy

needs to be reviewed.

>> His temperature is 39.1. His condition

is worsening.

>> Okay. How old is he?

>> He's two.

>> In the control center, staff work

12-hour shifts and the pace is

unrelenting.

>> What's the reason for the call?

>> I'm bringing up um ground poo and the

plane is absolutely excruciating.

>> But across the country, when [music]

mistakes are made, families are left

fighting for answers. When it goes

wrong, they do gaslight and they do lie.

[screaming]

[music] We've seen up close the

pressures on the ambulance service and

how they put lives at risk.

But when errors result in tragedy,

[music] the truth is sometimes hidden.

Claire is [music] grieving for her

35year-old son, Martin.

[music]

>> Martin likes to potter in the garden.

It was something that we had in common.

Martin was born in 1987 [music] and John

in 1989.

Martin [music] was funny, very dry.

He was just Martin. He was our our first

born.

>> In December 2022, John found his brother

Martin unconscious in the house they

shared.

John had [music] training for CPR. So he

started to do that and ring 999

spoke to the call handler. The call

handler ended the call. So John was able

to quickly ring me.

From him ringing to me getting there was

probably 25 [music] minutes.

There was no no ambulance on site. So I

ran into the house and a site [music]

that nobody wants to see. My youngest

son doing chest compressions on his

brother, you know, and obviously I said

to John, "Where are they?" And he said,

"I don't know." I thought, "Right, I've

just got to ring them back.

As a result of that second call, an

ambulance was then dispatched. I think

the first responder turned up about 12

minutes later.

She didn't try any intervention and just

sort of commented, "Oh, no, he's

deceased."

>> [music]

>> A postmortem later revealed that Martin

died of a condition called [music]

ketoacidosis

which caused a cardiac arrest.

[music]

>> You can't help but wonder if they'd have

got there sooner, perhaps they could

have done [music] something for him.

Martin lived [music] just half a mile

from Wales's biggest hospital, but it

took the ambulance 45 minutes to get

[music] to him. We put a complaint in

very, very quickly and right from the

beginning. They completely pull the

shutters down and [music]

it is entirely about protecting the

trust. It's torturous.

The Welsh Shawn [music] budsman launched

an investigation and concluded there had

been a series of errors, including the

first [music] ambulance being stood down

and that without them it was possible

Martin might have survived.

Clare discovered that something called

[music] intelligent routting platform or

IRP was in effect the week Martin died.

It rooted calls from overwhelmed 999

call handlers in England onto their

Welsh counterparts.

There were days [music] when there was

something like 600 calls coming in and

that's in addition to our own nation's

calls. [music]

The system was so overloaded a critical

incident had to be declared. [music] I

am quite convinced that it h it did have

an impact.

>> The ombbudsman also criticized the Welsh

Ambulance Service for withholding

evidence.

Why shouldn't we know exactly [music]

what went on and why?

Believe you me, when it goes wrong, they

do gaslight and they do lie. They use

your grief and your anxiety to get you

to a point where they're hoping [music]

you'll give up. It's not a bit about the

berieved family. They really don't

[music] care.

The Welsh Amberland service says IRP had

limited impact [music] on their call

handling ability, but acknowledges its

failings and accepts the ombbudsman's

findings. It takes its responsibilities

to be open and honest very seriously and

recognizes CLA feels let down for which

it is deeply sorry.

[music] There's concern about ambulance

service coverups across the country.

Paul Calver, a former police detective,

[music]

worked inside the Northeast Ambulance

Service with the job of giving

information to coroners and families

about [music] sudden unexplained deaths.

I first became suspicious of concerns

with the trust altering or concealing

documents from coroners and families

fairly early on. There was

irregularities with paperwork or missing

paperwork and items that should have

been supplied with the coroner and

hadn't been. I found that the trust were

altering concealing documents in

relation to [music] patient deaths and

which has occurred due to potential

mistakes that they'd made.

>> Paul turned whistleblower among the

cover-ups he highlighted and to [music]

which Northeast Ambulance Service has

now admitted the death of 17-year-old

Quinn [music] Milbour Beedle. The

paramedic on the scene failed to perform

life-saving treatment [music]

despite her still having a pulse.

Another involved 62-year-old granddad

Peter Coats, who died [music] after his

crucial oxygen machine lost power and

the paramedics sent to help stopped for

a long unscheduled break.

[music]

It's impossible to say how many deaths

may have followed a similar pattern. One

thing I can say with [music] certainty

is 5-year period at the trust. The trust

under reported um serious incidents when

a certain level of harm or suspected

harm [music] occurs to a patient.

That also means there wouldn't [music]

have been an investigation. So therefore

no learning would have been taken from

that patient's death. So then that death

incident is likely to [music] reoccur.

It means the family can't um obtain

justice or answers for how their loved

one came about the death.

I'd still get contacted by families

raising concerns about other trusts.

This is an ongoing issue. In [music] my

opinion, it seems as though we live in a

coverup culture.

Northeast Ambulance Service told us it

had given an unreserved apology to the

families it failed

and had addressed the flaws [music] in

its processes.

And I fundamentally [music] believe that

unless we get to the point where every

part of the NHS

is willing and able to be open about the

errors that are sometimes inevitable,

how can we have a system that's going to

keep improving, that's going to learn.

>> I'm nearing the end of my 8 weeks

working undercover as a 999 call

handler. It's a really privileged

position to have. You are sometimes

there for the beginning of someone's

life or for the end of someone's life.

But equally, you're also there when

things don't go right [music] and when

people are upset and scared because of

that.

>> Sometimes it's the supposedly lower

priority calls [music] when every moment

counts but in a different way that

really affect you.

>> Go ahead with the reason for the call.

>> The hospice um asked for an ambulance to

pick my husband up at 10:00 this

morning. They said it would be an

accidental of 2 hours. It's now been

nearly fine. He's he's dying and they've

got a bed for the hospice.

>> Okay, understood.

>> They'd arranged it as a 2-hour response

and his wife was calling up because

she'd waited over 5 and 1/2 [music]

hours.

>> I can't give an ETA. I could see that an

ambulance hadn't even been allocated or

assigned to this job. So, I had no way

of telling how much longer this woman

and her husband were going to be

waiting.

All he needed was to go to the hospice

to be somewhere comfortable.

>> I don't have access to any like exact

ETAs, but I can see um that it is still

arranged and they they will be with you

as soon as a crew becomes available and

I will make a note of the fact that

you've called back.

>> Thank you for finding out for me. That's

really kind of you.

>> It just feels pretty basic. It feels

like a matter of just like dignity. Um

just get someone to a comfortable place

where they can die.

She was so nice. Thank you for looking

up for me.

>> Thanks so much for looking out for me. I

was like, "No, that's fine." I mean, I

literally told you I don't know.

>> Dispatches has witnessed 999 under

severe pressure even before winter

arrives.

>> We described it as a perma crisis in the

NHS. We're at risk, I think, of becoming

desensitized to some of these awful

stories because they're so [music]

common. And there needs to be a clear

plan now to say not again, not this

winter. We need to end

the crisis in emergency care [music] and

and get a grip of what's happening

throughout the health system.

The government has launched a 10-year

plan to transform the NHS, [music]

warning it must reform or die. But the

problems of the ambulance service are

immediate.

>> Fundamentally, the 10-year plan is a

vision of a very different health care

service [music]

in the medium term. Problems we have of

long wait for an ambulance aren't

[music] going to be immediately solved

by that 10-year plan.

Unfortunately, I think part of the deal

is recognizing that we won't receive the

same level of care we used to. that long

weights are going to be a feature of

[music] the next few years and there's

probably just no way around that.

>> The Department of Health and Social Care

told [music] us it is turning things

around. Ambulance response times are the

fastest since the [music] pandemic.

Backed by450 million pounds, it is

[music] expanding urgent and emergency

capacity to cut delays.

I think everyone in the ambulance

service is doing their best. I just

think they don't have enough to do the

best job possible.

I think one of the most shocking things

for me is how unshocked everyone who

works there is by the situation.

People aren't surprised by the long

waiting times.

People aren't surprised by people

becoming really upset and distressed on

the phone. It It's so normal now. People

are just so used to it being like this.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
emergency ɪˈmɝːdʒənsi A2	noun - an unexpected and dangerous situation requiring immediate action
cardiac ˈkɑːrdiæk B1	adjective - relating to the heart
arrest əˈɹɛst A2	noun - a sudden cessation of the heart's function
CPR siː piː ɹ A2	noun - cardiopulmonary resuscitation, a procedure to support breathing and circulation
survival səˈvaɪvəl A2	noun - the state of continuing to live or exist
clinician ˈklɪnɪʃən B1	noun - a healthcare professional who works directly with patients
prioritize ˈpraɪəˌraɪz B1	verb - to decide which tasks are most important and should be done first
response rɪˈspɑːns A2	noun - a reaction to something
pressure ˈprɛʃər A2	noun - the force applied per unit area
ambulance ˈæmbjələns A1	noun - a vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to hospital
target ˈtɑːrɡɪt A2	noun - a goal or standard to be achieved
stroke stroʊk A2	noun - a serious medical condition where blood flow to the brain is interrupted
triage triːˈɑːʒ B1	noun - the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their condition
paramedic ˌpærəˈmɛdɪk B1	noun - a healthcare professional who provides emergency medical services outside a hospital
critical ˈkrɪtɪkəl B1	adjective - of the greatest importance
incident ˈɪnsɪdənt A2	noun - an event or occurrence
investigation ɪnˌvɛstɪˈɡeɪʃən B1	noun - a systematic inquiry or examination
whistleblower ˈwɪsəlˌbloʊər B2	noun - a person who exposes wrongdoing within an organization
cover-up ˈkʌvər ʌp B2	noun - an attempt to prevent people from discovering the truth about something
reform rɪˈfɔːrm B1	verb - to make changes to improve a system or institution

Key Grammar Structures

• If he's not already, lay him onto his back on the floor. Have you done that?

  ➔ Conditional sentence (Type 1)

  ➔ The sentence uses 'If' to express a condition that is likely to be true, followed by the imperative 'lay him onto his back'.

• And with cardiac arrest, for every minute that CPR isn't performed, your chances of survival decrease by 10%.

  ➔ Present simple passive

  ➔ The sentence uses the passive voice with 'isn't performed' to emphasize the action rather than the doer.

• Push about two times a second. Push. Push.

  ➔ Imperative mood

  ➔ The sentence uses the imperative mood to give direct instructions.

• She's discovering dangerous delays.

  ➔ Present continuous

  ➔ The sentence uses the present continuous to describe an action happening now.

• Response time is estimated to be 3 hours and 56 minutes.

  ➔ Passive voice with 'is estimated'

  ➔ The sentence uses the passive voice to focus on the action of estimating rather than who is doing it.

• We've normalized a government performance that would have been unheard of before.

  ➔ Present perfect

  ➔ The sentence uses the present perfect to describe an action that started in the past and continues to the present.

• I need an ambulance. Response time is estimated to be 3 hours and 56 minutes.

  ➔ Direct speech

  ➔ The sentence uses direct speech to report exactly what was said.

• The caller did eventually get an ambulance, but we discovered that at times of extreme pressure, a no send policy is triggered.

  ➔ Past simple and past continuous

  ➔ The sentence contrasts a completed action ('did eventually get') with a background action ('a no send policy is triggered').

• We're telling them that an ambulance is being arranged, but they're not actually getting an ambulance.

  ➔ Present continuous passive

  ➔ The sentence uses the present continuous passive to describe an ongoing action without specifying the doer.

• What we're seeing happening in real time is a redrawing of what is an emergency.

  ➔ Present continuous with 'what'

  ➔ The sentence uses the present continuous with 'what' to describe an ongoing situation.