Officials at South Central Ambulance Service have apologised for a delay in getting to a two-year-old boy in Whiteley who was suffering an allergic reaction.
Kerry Rudge called 999 last Saturday evening at 8.37pm to her home after her son Harry developed a rash and his face had swollen.
The bus and emergency vehicle route between Yew Tree Drive and Botley Road with the bollards in place
Paramedics from South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) Trust were deployed to the house in Suffolk Drive, but were delayed when it turned out the crew did not have one of the trust’s 60 transponder tags to lower the electronically-controlled bollards in Yew Tree Drive.
They also did not have the Hampshire County Council control room number to call to ask for the bollards to be lowered and so had to be re-routed – which resulted in a delay of 27 minutes to get to the patient.
James Keating-Wilkes, a spokesperson for the trust, said: “We would like to take this opportunity to make a public apology to the family concerned for the delayed response.”
The trust had been issued with 60 transponder keys for the gateway. The ambulance used on the night of the incident was a vehicle based in Nursling and its satellite navigation system directed the crew along a route including Yew Tree Drive.
Fareham Council leader Sean Woodward has written to SCAS Chief Executive Will Hancock calling for an investigation into the ambulance trust’s procedures and asked for the trust to respond to his questions.
In his letter he said: “Why did the ambulance have a satellite navigation system that directed it through the bus gate? I am advised that no generally available systems contain this potentially serious error.
“Why, when South Central Ambulance Service has been offered as many transponders as it requires, and requested 60, was the ambulance not carrying one?
“Why was the telephone number provided to the ambulance service to bring about an emergency lowering of the bollards not used?”
Mr Keating-Wilkes could not confirm when Mr Woodward would receive a response or whether a formal investigation would definitely be taking place.
“The trust can confirm that the chief executive has received the letter from Councillor Sean Woodward and this will be receiving our prompt attention. He will be responding accordingly.
“Over the years the council has provided us with a significant number of tags and they have been allocated within as many vehicles as possible. From time to time we may need to send a resource from elsewhere.”
He said Whiteley was “problematic” when vehicles were deployed from the west of the county because they did not carry the tag on board the ambulance. Mr Keating-Wilkes said the satellite navigation had directed the paramedics to Yew Tree Drive, but if they had been a local crew – for example from Fareham – they would have used local knowledge about the area to get to the patient as quickly as possible.
“We are keen to work together with the local council to ensure as far as possible that this situation does not occur again in the future,” he said.
He added: “Generally through normal operational demand an ambulance resource arriving from the east or west will enter Whiteley from the M27 junction 9.
The Yew Tree Drive bollards have been temporarily lowered for public access in light of the incident.