The pressures faced by NHS ambulance crews in Lancaster have been highlighted in the first episode of a hit documentary series.
The first episode of the BBC’s Ambulance featured two paramedic crews from the North West Ambulance Service, who are based out of Lancaster’s ambulance station on Cable Street.
The programme showed the affect of strike action on the service, as the most wide-scale industrial action for a generation reduced resources available to respond to emergency calls. The North West Ambulance Service lost over a third of its workforce as staff join the picket lines to strike over pay, working conditions and their concerns for patient safety.
With limited resources, the service finds themselves only responding to category 1 and 2 calls, the most life-threatening, and category 3 and 4 calls not being sent an ambulance.
Lancaster crewmates Phil and Ian are dispatched to an RTC on the M6, with multiple reports of a vehicle on its roof. It’s a challenging job for Phil, who opens up about his recent experience of losing close relatives in a fatal RTC.
Elsewhere in the episode, paramedics Jared and Jamie are dispatched to a vicarage in Heysham to help care for an 89-year-old female who has fallen. The patient expresses her deep gratitude for the NHS and the ambulance service.
Then, Jared and Jamie are dispatched to a 25-year-old in Lancaster who is vomiting due to gallstones. The patient’s strong family support network leads paramedic Jared to reflect on his life growing up with a parent struggling with addiction.
Next in Lancaster, Ian and Phil respond to a call from an 88-year-old patient from Carnforth who is on blood thinners and suffering from continuous nose bleeds. After being reassured by the crew, the patient reveals she nearly didn’t call for help, for fear the ambulance service were on strike.
Finally, the programme shows Jared and Jamie attend to a 25-year-old female patient with low mood and suicidal thoughts, in a flat in Skerton. The crew arrives to find the patient in the midst of a mental health crisis and learn she has been suffering with postnatal depression. After demonstrating effective breathing exercises, the crew is able to put the patient at ease and leave her at home feeling brighter and more positive.
Filmed during a historical period of uncertainty for the NHS, this episode introduces the staff of North West Ambulance Service across Lancashire, from the picket line to the front line. It shines a light on the uncertainties faced by the NHS today, while the ambulance service continues to deliver life-saving care to the people of the region.
Ambulance airs on BBC One, Thursdays at 9pm.
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