Susan Shipley

“1. I heard evidence that Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) use 'fit to sit' assessments of patients attending Emergency Departments (ED) by ambulance, to determine whether they are fit to sit and wait to be assessed by hospital staff, or need to remain on an ambulance stretcher. 'Fit to sit' is thus an important part of YAS's attempts to reduce handover times for ambulances at acute hospitals. I heard evidence from an ED clinician and a senior YAS paramedic that 'fit to sit' assessments should”

“Mrs [name redacted] was a right below knee amputee with an ischaemic/gangrenous left foot and a wheelchair user who was unable to weight bear. Despite this, she was deemed 'fit to sit', and be transported to another hospital, in a hospital issue wheelchair. There was no documentary evidence of any assessment of her fitness to sit made by the paramedics concerned, nor the ACP and HALO who were said to have been involved in it. I found from the evidence of a senior YAS paramedic that any assessment appropriately”

“My concerns relate to - a) The absence of any documentary evidence that an initial 'fit to sit' assessment was undertaken involving the parties mentioned above; b) The decisiion that Mrs [name redacted] was 'fit to sit' despite being an amputee and unable to weight bear; c) The absence of any subsequent 'fit to sit' assessment being undertaken by the second ambulance crew transporting Mrs [name redacted] to York, because of an assumption of fitness to sit, and the role of the HALO in this assumption; d) The abs”

“The potential risk of death to others in the event of a recurrence of any of the above.”