| Two South Western Ambulance workers arrested after six people die in Wiltshire Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 20:55, 19th September 2025 |     |
From the BBC:
Two ambulance workers have been arrested over the deaths of six adults, police have said.
The investigation was launched in 2023 and last year a man in his 30s, from West Wiltshire, was arrested on suspicion of six counts of gross negligence manslaughter and four counts of ill-treatment or wilful neglect by a care worker.
A 59-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in March this year. Police have only released details of the investigation and arrests now.
The two South Western Ambulance Service workers have been released on bail, Wiltshire Police said. "We can confirm a major investigation is under way relating to several adult deaths in and around Wiltshire," said Det Ch Insp Phil Walker from the force's major crime team. "Our focus is on supporting the families and loved ones of those who have died," he added.
Det Ch Insp Walker said the investigation has been ongoing since an initial report in 2023. The man in his 30s was arrested in June 2024. "Detailed inquiries have been undertaken since to ascertain the facts," he added.
A spokesperson for the ambulance service said it started an internal investigation as soon as it became aware of concerns and had since been "working closely" with police. The service said the two workers were "immediately relieved of all duties, including the treatment of patients," adding one of the individuals is no longer employed by the trust.
"We would like to reassure people that this is an isolated situation and there is no ongoing risk to patients. Please continue to call 999 in a life-threatening emergency," the spokesperson added.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the offence of gross negligence manslaughter requires the breach of an existing duty of care, which gives rise to a serious and obvious risk of death.
South Western Ambulance Service was most recently inspected by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission in 2022 and was rated as "good", having made improvements since previous inspections. The trust was rated as "outstanding" for care and "good" for its response times, effectiveness and leadership. Its emergency and urgent care services was rated as requiring improvement.
Posting without comment, other than my highlighting above. CfN.
| Re: Two South Western Ambulance workers arrested after six people die in Wiltshire Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 10:50, 11th December 2025 | |
An update, from the BBC:
Wiltshire deaths probe linked to patients' altered care records
The arrest of two ambulance workers over the deaths of six adults is linked to allegations some patients were not taken to hospital when they should have been and had their care records altered, the BBC can reveal.
A Wiltshire Police investigation, launched in 2023, is believed to be connected to an internal audit by South West Ambulance Service NHS Trust [SWAST] of an electronic patient care record system [ePCR].
The BBC understands vital readings were allegedly changed to make a patient appear less ill at the end of a shift so hospital transport - and potentially a long wait at the hospital - was avoided.
SWAST and Wiltshire Police have declined to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
Last year a man in his 30s, from West Wiltshire, was arrested on suspicion of six counts of gross negligence manslaughter and four counts of ill-treatment or willful neglect by a care worker. An Emergency Care Assistant [ECA], a woman in her 50s, was also arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in March. Both have been released on bail.
One source, who the BBC is not naming, said: "One of the patients who died at home... had low oxygen saturation... a criteria that demanded hospital conveyance.The observations they changed manually, increased the saturation level to a rate that justified being managed at home."
The BBC understands the arrested paramedic was sacked, while the ECA, who is suspected of assisting the paramedic in changing the ePCR, remains suspended.
An NHS promotional video showed how the electronic patient care record system worked
A new ePCR system was launched by the ambulance service in 2016 and described it as "an electronic solution designed by paramedics for paramedics". Nineteen emergency vehicles were fitted with the device.
Under the system paramedics using a mobile electronic pad can input vital data such as blood pressure or a heart monitor reading. This is communicated to a unit at the hospital, streamlining the process of recording patient data during emergency responses.
Training for crews emphasises that patients seen at the end of a 12-hour shift should be treated in exactly the same manner as those at the beginning. But several sources within the emergency services have told the BBC that when an audit of the system was introduced in 2022, it flagged up discrepancies between the readings sent using bluetooth by the West Wiltshire paramedics and subsequent manual overrides they made.
The sources told the BBC that it is common practice to make manual changes to readings - such as blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation levels (SATS) - if paramedics believe an original reading was incorrect. Incorrect readings can also happen if, for instance, a patient is wearing nail varnish as that can affect the SATS reading. Temperature readings can also be wrong if patient's extremities are cold.
However, sources say that the audit identified a number of occasions where manual changes were later made that were not legitimate.
A Freedom of Information request by the BBC showed that, since January 2025 a total of 12,453 audits were completed, of which 719 were non-compliant - the equivalent of one in 17. Non-compliance can be for a variety of reasons, for example where paramedics failed to explain their clinical decisions.
As part of its investigation the BBC has also been told that two other SWAST paramedics have been suspended after another failed ePCR audit, not related to the police investigation. SWAST has declined to confirm the reason for these two suspensions.
The arrest of two ambulance workers over the deaths of six adults is linked to allegations some patients were not taken to hospital when they should have been and had their care records altered, the BBC can reveal.
A Wiltshire Police investigation, launched in 2023, is believed to be connected to an internal audit by South West Ambulance Service NHS Trust [SWAST] of an electronic patient care record system [ePCR].
The BBC understands vital readings were allegedly changed to make a patient appear less ill at the end of a shift so hospital transport - and potentially a long wait at the hospital - was avoided.
SWAST and Wiltshire Police have declined to comment while the investigation is ongoing.
Last year a man in his 30s, from West Wiltshire, was arrested on suspicion of six counts of gross negligence manslaughter and four counts of ill-treatment or willful neglect by a care worker. An Emergency Care Assistant [ECA], a woman in her 50s, was also arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in March. Both have been released on bail.
One source, who the BBC is not naming, said: "One of the patients who died at home... had low oxygen saturation... a criteria that demanded hospital conveyance.The observations they changed manually, increased the saturation level to a rate that justified being managed at home."
The BBC understands the arrested paramedic was sacked, while the ECA, who is suspected of assisting the paramedic in changing the ePCR, remains suspended.
An NHS promotional video showed how the electronic patient care record system worked
A new ePCR system was launched by the ambulance service in 2016 and described it as "an electronic solution designed by paramedics for paramedics". Nineteen emergency vehicles were fitted with the device.
Under the system paramedics using a mobile electronic pad can input vital data such as blood pressure or a heart monitor reading. This is communicated to a unit at the hospital, streamlining the process of recording patient data during emergency responses.
Training for crews emphasises that patients seen at the end of a 12-hour shift should be treated in exactly the same manner as those at the beginning. But several sources within the emergency services have told the BBC that when an audit of the system was introduced in 2022, it flagged up discrepancies between the readings sent using bluetooth by the West Wiltshire paramedics and subsequent manual overrides they made.
The sources told the BBC that it is common practice to make manual changes to readings - such as blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation levels (SATS) - if paramedics believe an original reading was incorrect. Incorrect readings can also happen if, for instance, a patient is wearing nail varnish as that can affect the SATS reading. Temperature readings can also be wrong if patient's extremities are cold.
However, sources say that the audit identified a number of occasions where manual changes were later made that were not legitimate.
A Freedom of Information request by the BBC showed that, since January 2025 a total of 12,453 audits were completed, of which 719 were non-compliant - the equivalent of one in 17. Non-compliance can be for a variety of reasons, for example where paramedics failed to explain their clinical decisions.
As part of its investigation the BBC has also been told that two other SWAST paramedics have been suspended after another failed ePCR audit, not related to the police investigation. SWAST has declined to confirm the reason for these two suspensions.
