Bosses of an NHS ambulance service have spoken out about a little-known power. The information emerged after the devastating impact of one ‘criminal offence’ was exposed in a poignant BBC One series.
Now in its 13th season, Ambulance follows the ‘life and death decisions’ of NHS crews at our nation’s frontline. Last week, viewers watched as dispatchers received a distressing call about numerous patient injuries – but when emergency responders arrived at the scene, it was revealed to be a hoax.
Remarkably, the prank caller then continued to ring back and make false reports until managers were given no option but to block their number for eight hours. While incidents like this are rare, London Ambulance staff have since claimed that their calls impacted ‘patients in genuine need’ across the city who were waiting for help.
This included an elderly patient who was found on the floor of the bathroom by her neighbour – she had been stuck there for a worrying 24 hours. In light of this, Darren Farmer, Director of Ambulance Operations for London Ambulance Service, said: “Hoax calls to 999 are a criminal offence because they threaten lives.
“Every hoax call we attend takes valuable resources away from genuine emergencies and can delay ambulances reaching patients with a life-threatening illness or injury. We work with the police to prosecute where possible as this behaviour is completely unacceptable and callers can face imprisonment or a fine.
“If a caller repeatedly impacts our ability to answer calls we can stop them from connecting to emergency services for eight hours. However, we have to treat every 999 call as genuine until we can rule it out.”
Between 2015 and 2019, London Ambulance Service received 4,647 hoax calls, and 2,821 were attended by crews, according to The Standard. It reportedly cost the NHS around £205.93 every time emergency teams arrived at the scene to respond each incident.
Daniel Elkeles, London Ambulance Service Chief Executive, also added: “Thankfully hoax calls aren’t common but this episode shows their devastating impact: they waste time and resources but worse than that they delay care for those patients who really need us.
“But despite the challenges this episode highlights how exceptional our people are. From the dispatchers making life or death decisions about where to send ambulances to the call handlers and crews treating patients with care, commitment and compassion.
“This is not an easy job – but viewers will see that it is an extraordinary one and it can be both rewarding and exciting.”
You can watch episodes of Ambulance on BBC iPlayer.