In BriefParamedic to face charges after a delayed 999 response

Paramedic to face charges after a delayed 999 response

A SCOTTISH paramedic faces charges he delayed the response to a 999 call by arguing with a dispatcher.

Paramedic Edward Whiteside is also accused of using foul language while on the phone with the dispatcher about the same incident.

Healthcare watchdogs the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) also allege he left a junior colleague to care for a patient without supervising her.

A hearing into Mr Whiteside’s conduct will take place in Glasgow next month, and he could be struck off if found guilty of serious misconduct.

The paramedic is said to have delayed to response to an emergency call out on 23 July 2010 while working for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The charges say he “delayed the response to the 999 call by arguing with the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre (EMDC) dispatcher”.

Another charge relating to the same incident tells him: “You used inappropriate language in that you said ‘He’s not f****** letting you go’ or words to that effect, whilst on the phone with the dispatcher.”

Mr Whiteside is also accused of inappropriately failing to supervise a junior colleague, named only as Mrs X, on 21 March 2011.

He is said to have driven the ambulance to a hospital after giving the patient morphine, leaving Mrs X to care for the patient.

The charges say he “failed to supervise Mrs X in caring for the patient” and  “failed to ensure that the patient received care from the most appropriate ambulance clinician.”

Mr Whiteside is also accused of failing to record he administered the morphine, and his “fitness to practice” is said to be impaired.

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