Paramedic Zain Ali Kazmi returned to his ambulance outside a hospital and found a note pinned to his windscreen from a consultant whose illegally-parked car had been blocked in
A paramedic who returned to his ambulance outside a hospital found an angry note pinned to his windscreen from a consultant whose illegally-parked car had been blocked in.
The note, in capitals, read: ‘Think about others before you block others’ car,’ and was shockingly signed ‘A&E Consultant’.
Disgusted paramedic Zain Ali Kazmi discovered the note on the ambulance parked at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
He reacted by posting two photographs of his ambulance on Facebook and wrote: ‘Came out of ED to find this! Another note on an ambulance this time from an A&E consultant outside A&E because he was blocked in a bay where he shouldn’t have parked himself!’
The 23-year-old said: ‘We get enough of this stuff from the public. It’s not nice seeing it from another health care professional.’
Dr Sarah Robertshaw, Head of Clinical Service for Emergency Medicine at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said it had been working hard with the West Yorkshire Ambulance Service over the last six months to improve ambulance hand-over times, and frequently found itself among the top in the region.
She added: ‘It was therefore disappointing to see this post on social media today. We have spoken to the doctor in question.’
Mr Kazmi said the issue was not related to hand-over times.
‘There are some spaces there to park in but normally the police park there. It’s not a staff car park. It’s outside A&E.
‘He was going round taking pictures at first and then he left the note. But he didn’t leave a note on the other consultant’s car that was there. You don’t just leave a note on an ambulance. It’s not the way to deal with it.’
Dr Sarah Robertshaw, Head of Clinical Service for Emergency Medicine at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said it had been working hard with the West Yorkshire Ambulance Service over the last six months to improve ambulance hand-over times, and frequently found itself among the top in the region
Zain’s experience is just the latest incident involving abusive or unpleasant notes being left on ambulances. Last month paramedics in Stoke were greeted with a handwritten note that said: ‘You have no right to be parked here. I couldn’t give a s*** if the whole street collapsed. Now move your van.’
The note was tweeted by a paramedic, who said the workers involved had also received verbal abuse.
Following a social media plea by West Midlands Ambulance Service a 26-year-old woman was charged with a public order offence and fined £120.
The crew had been responding to a 999 call from her neighbour. West Yorkshire Ambulance Service has been approached for comment.