Struggling paramedics called to house 650 TIMES in A YEAR sparks calls for court action

STRETCHED ambulance crews have been called out 650 times to ONE house in just 12 months.

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe calls for actionPA

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe has called for action over calls which put genuine cases at risk

Lives are being put at risk by time wasters calling out paramedics, says Labour MP Steve McCabe who has demanded the ambulance service must take action.

Only 11 of the 653 callouts to the address in Shard End, Birmingham, had actually resulted in anyone being taken to hospital, despite 400 being described as being for “someone generally unwell”. It means paramedics were called on average nearly TWICE A DAY.

In one shameful incident paramedics rushed to the house as the resident had a HEADACHE.

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe wants court action against prolific time wasters after it was revealed the West Midlands Ambulance Service was called out a scandalous 5,000 times to just 30 addresses.

He said: “Someone is going to die while hard-pressed ambulance services are having their time wasted on these kind of callouts - that simply isn't acceptable." 

He called for a reporting and monitoring system which followed up on offending callers.

He added: "Where calls might simply be regarded as malicious there should be a police warning, followed by a caution and prosecution.

Paramedics stuck in rush hour traffic in London's West EndALAMY

The West Midlands Ambulance Service was called 5,000 times to just 30 addresses in a year

Someone is going to die while hard-pressed ambulance services are having their time wasted on these kind of callouts

Steve McCabe MP

"I am going to put down a parliamentary question as to whether the ambulance service is considering providing guidance to patients about what is acceptable.

"We ought to make clear that those who breach that guidance without good reason and on a regular basis can expect the law to come down on them.

"If it is due to their mental health, they must be made to realise that a failure to accept help will result in a prosecution.”

Another property in the city's Selly Oak area was visited on 260 occasions, while one in Stourbridge, in West Midlands, raised the alarm 231 times for falls.

Calls were made from a property in Oswestry 105 times with only four resulting in a trip to hospital.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said the trust worked with local health officials and social services to create care packages for prolific callers, which had resulted in a reduction in emergency calls. 

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