Daughter of heart-attack victim files formal complaint
THE daughter of a heart-attack victim filed a formal complaint last week with the Scottish Ambulance Service after hearing that an ambulance technician was demoted for speaking to the media in relation to an incident last year involving her mother.
The service has 30 days to respond to her complaint.
Miss Chrsitine Cowie of Sandhaven said she decided to act after the Herald story was published recently about Ambulance Technicial Alex McLeman's demotion. Mr McLeman is the technician who blew the whistle on a paramedic colleague for not attending an emergency on his tea break. Last Thursday, he was transferred to Banff as a relief crewmember after 30 years based in the Broch.
Miss Cowie, who lives in Sandhaven, told the Herald on Friday that she had lodged the complaint to support Mr MacLeman. It is understood the service disciplined the technician for harrassment and bullying of his colleague. Miss Cowie is a support worker who works with adults with learning disabilities in the Broch.
"It disgusted me to hear that - I think it's absolutely ridiculous for that guy to be punished for what he thought was right and my whole family thinks the same, " Miss Cowie said.
"It's upsetting that the man was demoted for doing that and his colleague gets off Scot free. At the end of the day, if nobody says anything about this, nothing will ever be done about it. I think the ambulance service should look at their whole setup.
"For a start, if you're on your tea break and there's a shout, you should be obligated just to go."
She added: "My dad was upset when he read the story, but he's in total agreement that he should not have been disciplined."
On September 17 last year, Miss cowie's mother, Mrs Catherine Cowie (50) suffered a heart attack at her home in Union Grove, just around the corner from the ambulance station in Dennyduff Road. Christine Cowie told 999 operators that she thought her mother - who suffered from multiple sclerosis - was dying. A
mbulance technician Julie Addy, 43, was called to the house while the paramedic stayed on his break. An ambulance was called and Mrs Cowie was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where she died two days later.
Under the rules of the UK Government's Agenda for Change NHS pay-modernisation programme, ambulance crews are entitled to a break during their shift and could not be disturbed during that period.
"All ambulance services in the UK must comply with these rules, unless staff choose individually to be interrupted during their break," the spokesman said.
None of the technicians who attended Mrs Cowie were qualified to give intravenous drugs, a factor that Miss Cowie believes could have given her mother a better chance of survival.
The ambulance service has consistently refused to discuss matters relating to individual employees' disciplinary action.
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Monday 06 February 2012
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