Ambulance services across England develop programme to change behaviour of emergency ‘frequent fliers’Ambulance “frequent fliers” who execute several 999 calls a year are costing the NHS in England millions of pounds, with experts concerned that some patients develop an unhealthy pattern of dependent behaviour on the service.
Though most callers have genuine unmet medical needs – few are malicious or hoaxers – the scale of the problem becomes evident as hospital A&E departments regain to grips with another winter of rising demands on services. Ambulance service leaders and local health commissioners are keen to focus increasingly tight budgets on patients at more imminent risk.
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Source: theguardian.com