Claims ambulance officers stayed an hour at patients house, watched football

The partner of an elderly patient has criticised two ambo officers who she says stayed to watch TV, while Labor claims ramping is up after elective surgery has resumed.

The partner of an elderly patient has criticised two ambulance officers for staying in her home long after they were needed so they could watch a soccer game.

The incident is being investigated by the SA Ambulance Service at the request of the state government.

“It would be extremely disappointing to learn officers were watching a game of soccer on TV at a private residence while on shift rather than attending call-outs and it should be investigated,” a government spokesman said.

But the Labor Party has hit back with claims off-duty officers were being abused at pre-poll polling booths when campaigning for Labor.

The identity of the partner of the patient, 61, has been confirmed by The Advertiser but remains anonymous.

She has provided a signed release form she used to seek information about the incident from the South Australian Ambulance Service, and then provide it to the government.

The time sheet released by SAAS, with no other detail, shows officers attending the CBD home at around midnight and staying for 69mins without transporting the patient.

The patient’s partner called for officers who arrived at around midnight on June 24 last year, but he had recovered from a temporary condition when they arrived and they were not needed.

The patient suffers from a golden staph (staphylococcus) infection, but when officers arrived he was watching a soccer game.

“One of the officers was a fan of a team playing, and he wanted to watch the game and said he would get another job if he went to the vehicle,’’ he said.

“We just wanted to go to bed.”

Ambulance Employees Association Leah Watkins rejected the claims, and said officers could take some additional time to monitor the health of the patient and complete paperwork even if they no longer needed to be transported.

“As Registered Health Professionals, Paramedics provide a thorough clinical assessment of their patients and this can take upward of 30 minutes,” she said.

“In this case, it appears the patient no longer required hospitalisation.”

She said there was then 20-30 minutes of paperwork to be done and: “This documentation is comprehensive, as it is to be provided to the patient’s next visit with their health care professional”.

Ms Watkins also confirmed claims by Labor legal affairs spokesman Kyam Maher that officers were being abused at pre-poll polling booths by Liberal supporters.

“AEA members have reported Liberal campaigners questioning the legitimacy of their attendance at polling booths,’’ she said.

“This has been perceived as an attempt to intimidate.”

But the partner of the 69-year-old CBD patient said she was shocked after the soccer incident that Ambulance officers were campaigning against poor resourcing.

“I’ve seen these advertisements by the ambulance union, and from what happened to us they are not justified,’’ she said.

“There was in our case no way the officers were under the pressure they say they are in the campaign.”

The day after the night in question the union tweeted that 18 life-threatening cases had been unattended because of under resourcing.

Labor’s health spokesman Chris Picton released a statement on Friday morning, and said ramping had surged by 50 per cent in the past fortnight.

BREAKING: Ramping data from last week shows a 50% increase compared to two weeks prior, which coincided with elective surgery restrictions being lifted. #saparli#stopramping

— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) March 17, 2022

“It is now clear ramping is surging again following the resumption of elective surgery,” Mr Picton said.

“Indeed, the only time there has been a reduction in ramping during this government has been when elective surgery has been cancelled due to Covid-19.”

Originally published as Claims ambulance officers stayed an hour at patients house, watched football