LISTEN: Local ambulance investigation hits national airwaves
Last updated 2nd Feb 2018
MFR News has taken the findings of its investigation into the North's struggling ambulance service onto national radio.
It came as a poll carried out by our newsroom over the last week suggested that 65-per-cent of people in the North do not believe that an emergency ambulance will arrive in their time of need.
LISTEN AGAIN: shock revelations and even breaking news during the show from our reporter Bryan Rutherford...
The show's producer Rob Waller said the national broadcast "got a lot of reaction from around the country" after listeners heard the whistleblowers' revelations that ambulance crews are so overstretched, that they're even falling asleep at the wheel, while on emergency call-outs.
Before our reporter Bryan Rutherford started talking to Ally Bally on-air, live from the Inverness-based MFR News studio, a video revealing what was to come, was retweeted across Twitter...
All week MFR News has been broadcasting a series of special reports after ambulance insiders came forward to talk exclusively to our news team, to speak out about the realities of their jobs, the growing pressures, and apparent failures which appear to be escaping public knowledge.
BELOW: You can watch back our video reports from earlier in the week...
• BREAKING THE NEWS THAT THE UK'S SAFETY WATCHDOG COULD INVESTIGATE THE SCOTTISH AMBULANCE SERVICE click here.
• REVEALING THE PROBLEM IS SO SERIOUS LOCAL AMBULANCES ARE UNAVAILABLE AND OTHERS ARE FAR AWAY click here.
• HEARING FROM PARENTS SAYING THEIR FAMILIES HAVE BEEN LET DOWN BY CARING CREWS WHO ARE BEING FAILED BY THEIR EMPLOYER, THE SCOTTISH AMBULANCE SERVICE click here.
Our reporter Bryan Rutherford's chat with Ally Bally on Scotland's Talk In ended with our journalist breaking news live on-air. Bryan told the programme: "My sources are telling me that managers in the North appear to have launched a witch hunt, to try and identify these whistleblowers.
"And I've also obtained an internal email circulated to Scottish Ambulance Service workers, just before 9am on Friday.
"It's from Pat O'Connor, the Director of Care Quality and Strategic Development.
"The subject line is 'information breach.'
"Now, I'm quoting, and para-phrasing: It is disappointing that while we are making good progress towards working in an open and honest culture, where mistakes or problems are reported in order for us to learn from them, that this information has been shared externally.
"The Code of Conduct states that it is unacceptable to disclose any information to which you have privileged access.
"Such information should never be used to bring the public body into disrepute.
"Now Ally, the Scottish Ambulance Service has chosen not to come on the show, so we can't ask them about it - if they were in your studio now, I'd ask them whether they believe it's more important to the public that they hunt down whistle-blowers - so a lot of time an effort there, or they put that into fixing the problems we've identified in our investigation."
LISTEN: You told us these issues are so important to you, so we cancelled Friday's 5pm news bulletin, and MFR News reporter Bryan Rutherford presented this 5-minute special feature...
FULL STATEMENT: SCOTTISH AMBULANCE SERVICE
'The Scottish Ambulance Service is saving more lives than ever before, which we as a Service together with our staff can be very proud of.
'We are also determined to provide patients across the Highland region with the highest possible level of care and to protect staff welfare.
'This means investing in the skills of our workforce, increasing staff numbers, new vehicles, having access to major trauma equipment and collaborating with our partners in the NHS and beyond.
'Our new recruits in Bettyhill, Golspie and Kinlochbervie have enabled us to expand our pool of relief staff and enhance the cover we can offer in the region. This will allow us to enhance patient care and save more lives.
'We replaced ambulance auxiliaries with full time ambulance staff through new funding for eight new full time posts. These full time posts have been deployed in Huntly, Keith and Dufftown ambulance stations.
'We encourage all our staff to report any concerns they may have regarding operations, clinical care, patient safety or their own welfare. There are systems in place to ensure that any such report is properly reviewed so that any learning can be implemented as part of a programme of continuous improvement. This is also discussed on a regular basis with all of our trade union staff representatives.”
'We are continuing to work closely with our partners in the region to monitor demand and review performance to ensure patients get the quickest and most appropriate resource in line with our new clinical response model.'