A PARAMEDIC who claims he is being made a “scapegoat” over proposed shift changes has warned ambulance chiefs that shorter hours are not the answer to staff tiredness.

Edward Miller has criticised South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) plans to cut 12-hour shifts to mostly eight and ten hours.

At the end of a 12-hour shift in March, Mr Miller gave the wrong drug to Haydn Boyes-Weston, 54, after he was found hanged.

A coroner ruled this did not contribute to his death, and paramedic boss Aubrey Bell revealed the shift change proposals during the inquest.

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The service has proposed making fewer than 10 per cent of the shifts 12 hours, another 10 per cent eight hours and the rest 10 hours.

In an email to staff and SCAS bosses Mr Miller said: “I resent being used as a scapegoat for railroading in these proposed rota changes.”

The allegations were denied by SCAS, which said the changes were due to rising demand and not “specific recent cases”.

Clinical mentor Mr Miller said he had been given the wrong syringe by a student paramedic and did not check it after being on duty for 12 hours.

His email on August 11 said: “Drug errors are made all the time in the NHS. I am not the first clinician to make a mistake and I know I will not be the last.

“I may however be the first to see their drug error used to gain public support for an unpopular corporate decision. This hardly prospers a culture where SCAS staff feel that openness and honesty when mistakes are made will be supported, in fact quite the opposite.”

He said shift length was not the only issue that could lead to errors and even eight-hour shifts without a break “can still cause staff fatigue”.

He said: “I believe that prioritising staff rest periods and rigorously triaging all calls to reduce the demand will have a more beneficial effect on staff fatigue than altering shift length.”

Mr Miller said at the inquest on July 23: “I had been on duty for 12 hours.

“It’s not an excuse and I accept that it’s my responsibility to check the drug, but whether that had any bearing on my decision, I don’t know.”

A SCAS statement said: “In no way would we seek to make any member of staff a ‘scapegoat’ and would never seek to push an agenda during any court or coroner hearing, responding only to specific questions asked.”

It said about the proposals: “These discussions and consultation are in direct response to changes in demand on the frontline services and are not linked to specific recent cases.”

It said the service was “actively enaging with staff” and proposals will reduce fatigue and give “more flexible, family friendly working”.

The organisation added that there was no date confirmed for the consultation to finish.

Consultant pathologist Prof Ian Roberts said at the inquest that drummer Mr Boyes-Weston, of Northmoor, West Oxfordshire, would have been dead before paramedics arrived.

He had played with bands like Human League, Cabaret Voltaire and The Heaven 17.

After the inquest his widow Carole branded 12-hour shifts “ridiculous”, adding: “Truck drivers have to restrict their hours, let alone people in control of life or death situations.”

The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide

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