Service not fit for purpose
GETTING kidney patients to and from hospital for treatment shouldn't be too tricky an operation.
But try telling that to the blundering Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
It has transpired that a computer error meant crews were sent to pick up three former patients who had passed away.
As one campaigner put it, it's bad enough to have a loved one die but for an ambulance to turn up for them only adds insult to injury.
Not only that, but the service has failed to meet its contracted target of delivering 90 per cent of patients within 30 minutes of their appointment time.
A helpline number was not given out and patients have complained of being driven miles out of their way after their exhausting treatment.
The situation has grown so grim that some have even spoken of abandoning their dialysis.
Not because of the treatment itself, but because they are so fed up of the shoddy transport.
Having been awarded what is no doubt a lucrative contract, Yorkshire Ambulance Service bosses must take a long, hard look at the service they are providing.
At the moment it is simply not up to the job and is merely serving to make the gruelling process of dialysis even more of an ordeal.
They must make big improvements.
This vital service cannot be allowed to become second class.
Web sex perils
THE case involving the rape of a 12-year-old girl will have sent shudders down the spines of parents everywhere.
She slept with barman Michael Graham after meeting him on a website, telling him she was a 19-year-old mother-of-one.
But when the schoolgirl's parents discovered what had happened, 25-year-old Graham was hauled before the courts and charged with rape.
Contrasting the girl's image as it was shown on the website with her everyday appearance, the judge in the case agreed Graham could have been misled.
He was handed a 12-month conditional discharge and walked free from court.
But what is most alarming for parents is the fact that this girl, through the internet, was able to lead a double life.
On her web profile she said she liked drinking and sex, was at college and lived with her brother.
The result was that she was inundated with messages from men keen to meet her.
Once again, it shows the perils that come with youngsters having such ready access to internet sites that are so difficult to police.
And it reinforces the need for parents to be as vigilant as possible to ensure their children are protected from its many dangers.
Sometimes, as in this case, when that danger happens to be of their own naive making.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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