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Hampshire ambulance chiefs scrap treatment incentive draw

10:40am Monday 22nd March 2010 in


Hampshire ambulance chiefs offered hundreds of pounds worth of shopping vouchers to staff who decided patients should be treated at home rather than hospital.

Under the scheme ambulance staff were to be entered into a draw if they made the decision that a patient be treated by a GP instead of taking them to hospital.

But South Central Ambulance Service has scrapped the weekly draw, which included four prizes worth £200 each, after concerns by staff and doctors.

One worried ambulanceman said: “It is unbelievable that part of what is a crucial decision-making process could be clouded by the incentive of entering a lottery for personal financial gain.”

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Comments(8)

DCM says...
10:48am Mon 22 Mar 10

You really do have to question the thought processes of the people that come up with these ideas. Thankfully common sense has prevailed.

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Lauren1990 says...
11:16am Mon 22 Mar 10

So, they thought that if they offer vouchers they won't bring the patients to the hospiatl???? Emergency services......means they are called for emergencies?! What would have happened if they told someone to see their GP just becuse they wanted vouchers....and something was to happen to that person. Ridiculous.

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Jparcoeur says...
11:22am Mon 22 Mar 10

Who ever implemented this should be sacked today. Unbelievable.

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freefinker says...
11:25am Mon 22 Mar 10

While I agree this was a rather stupid scheme there is a big problem of people calling out ambulances for ridiculously trivial complaints.

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Redback says...
6:39pm Mon 22 Mar 10

There is freefinker - but this scheme was completely inexcusable. I'm shocked that it could have even been considered.

I'm not usually one to call for people's heads, but in this instance Jparcoeur's right. This nonsense obviously puts patients at risk and shows not one drop of common sense. Whoever okayed it at senior management/board level should pay with their job.

I hope the echo pursue this one.

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Redback says...
7:14pm Mon 22 Mar 10

I do wonder where the motivation came from though...

As far as I'm aware, it's the PCT that pays for A&E admissions, not the ambulance Trust. So in terms of motive...

Makes me wonder if there's another layer to this story that's not been uncovered.

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Treble9 says...
2:09am Tue 23 Mar 10

The ambulance trust gets money for every patient they are able to treat out of hospital.

I'm glad this has been scrapped. It was a stupid idea, although one would hope that frontline staff weren't stupid enough to leave patients at home that should have been conveyed just on the off chance they might win some vouchers.

And yes. People do call ambulances for pathetic reasons. Half of what we get sent to aren't actual "emergencies".

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Adrian Smith says...
7:37pm Thu 1 Apr 10

Wasn't this story supposed to run today - all fools day?

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