Working on Christmas Day: Harrogate taxi driver

Not all heroes wear capes, and while most of us are tucking into our turkey spare a thought for those who are still working on Christmas Day.

Kevin O’Boyle, the owner of Central Taxis in Harrogate, says he has worked every Christmas Day except three in the last 56 years.

Mr O’Boyle may therefore appear more likely to wear a Grinch outfit than a Santa hat on the big day, but he certainly has that special Christmas spirit inside.

He is semi-retired but always steps up to the plate when needed. And he is rarely more needed than on Christmas Day.

Central Taxis has a contract with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust as well as Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

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So when public transport stops on Christmas Day, NHS staff turn to taxis to get them to work. Mr O’Boyle told the Stray Ferret:

“There are quite a number of NHS staff who rely on public transport so when that stops they turn to us for help.

“Not only do we take NHS staff to work but we also do other vital work. Like last Christmas, I was picking up drugs for the hospital from Manchester.”

He may have regrets about missing Christmas with his four children but Mr O’Boyle feels a sense of duty to the NHS so he is willing to make the sacrifice.

So when you are celebrating tomorrow spare a thought for those in the Harrogate district who are working.

Specialist paramedics rescue woman who fell in Harrogate woods

Specialist paramedics rescued a woman who had fallen and injured herself in a Harrogate woodland.

Two Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) and a regular ambulance team attended reports of a fall at 11am just off Oak Beck Road, close to the retail park.

On arrival the paramedics secured the area and managed to get the patient out of the woods and into the ambulance.

The paramedics then took her to Harrogate District Hospital for treatment. It is unclear at this time what level of injuries the woman sustained.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said:

“We received an emergency call at 11.01am this morning to reports of a female who had fallen in the woods behind the retail park on Oak Beck Road in Harrogate.

“We dispatched an ambulance and the Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene and one patient was conveyed to Harrogate Hospital.”

The HART teams provide care to people in a hazardous environment that would otherwise be beyond the reach of NHS care.

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Drunk teen rescued from river in Boroughbridge

The emergency services were summoned to help two teenagers who it is believed had been in the River Ure in Boroughbridge yesterday evening.

A passerby called Yorkshire Ambulance Service at around 6.20pm. The caller said they had seen a teenage boy drinking before going into the water.

When the ambulance crews arrived they realised that he had been with a teenage girl as well but she was no longer in the area.

So the paramedics requested help from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and four water rescue teams to look for the missing girl.

The crews soon found the girl and took her back to her parents. The paramedics then took the boy to hospital for treatment.

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A spokesperson for the fire and rescue service said:

“Ambulance responded to a believed intoxicated male youth by the river.

“Fire were then requested as there was some suspicion that a female youth who had been present due to items found there, may have gone into the river.

“Two level two water rescue and two level three water rescue teams mobilised from Boroughbridge, Ripon, and Richmond.

“Shortly after Boroughbridge attended, contact was made with the missing female – safely back with her parents.”

A spokesperson for the ambulance service added:

“We received an emergency call at 6.19pm on Wednesday to reports of a teenager by the River Ure in Boroughbridge who had been into the water.

“Two ambulances and a clinical supervisor were dispatched to the scene and one patient was conveyed to hospital.

“There were no additional patients requiring ambulance assistance at the scene.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has ‘sufficient fuel’

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has assured patients it has enough fuel for ambulances despite the ongoing supply problems.

Petrol stations across the Harrogate district have seen high demand since the end of last week.

Although some drivers have struggled to get fuel, officials at the ambulance service have assured it has “sufficient stocks” for its vehicles.

John McSorley, strategic commander for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said:

“Currently we have sufficient fuel stocks for our ambulance vehicles.  We have robust business continuity plans in place to ensure we are able to respond to patients needing our assistance and can invoke additional measures should they be required.

“We know that, like many others, some colleagues have found it difficult to obtain fuel for their own vehicles and we have a staff transport plan that can be activated should the situation escalate further.”

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Ministers have said there is no shortage of fuel across the country and urged motorists not to panic buy.

Army tanker drivers are on standby to be deployed to help with supply if necessary.

Grant Shapps, transport secretary, said in a tweet last night that “if everyone buys fuel as normal petrol stations will revert to normal service”.

To ease fuel flow we’ve:
✅ brought in army to help HGV testing
✅ added HGV drivers to Shortage Occupation
✅ created new apprenticeship scheme
✅ launched Skills Bootcamp
✅ expanded DVSA testing +50%
✅ changed law for faster HGV testing
➕ 12 other measures [1/2]

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps (@grantshapps) September 27, 2021

The Stray Ferret has set up a live blog to keep you up to date with the situation at fuel stations across the district. You can read live coverage here.

Pateley Bridge demands action after hour-long waits for ambulances

Pateley Bridge Town Council is demanding action after reports of people waiting up to an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

Frustration is growing between Pateley Bridge locals as the number of incidents with slow response times increase.

The mayor of the town, Mike Holt, told the Stray Ferret there had been numerous cases of people having heart attacks or bad falls and having to wait for long periods for treatment despite there being an ambulance station in the town, as well as in nearby Ripon and Grassington.

Cllr Holt said it was an “ongoing issue” that wasn’t down to any one cause.

One local resident contacted the town council after she waited almost 30 minutes for an ambulance when her husband had a heart attack last month.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said:

“It was just a normal evening and then he turned, I rang 999 immediately and was told it would be a 40-minute wait. The handler also hung up after saying they were really busy and couldn’t stay on the line. It’s frustrating and very worrying.

“Luckily one was deployed from Grassington but still the time it takes can make a real difference.”

The resident and Cllr Holt acknowledged ambulance response times was a national issue due to pressure on the NHS but both insisted more needed to be done.

Cllr Holt said the town council would submit a Freedom of Information request to Yorkshire Ambulance Service to discover details about wait time in the area. Once it received a response it would review what action it would take.

He said:

“There are many cases where they do amazing work but this is an ongoing issue that needs looking at. We’ve regularly had complaints of people waiting up to an hour.”

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In the past week, Yorkshire Ambulance Service released a statement saying covid and the easing of lockdown restrictions meant calls for help were increasing and the demand on its services was similar to that experienced during winter flu season. It said:

“Overall demand for emergency ambulances is increasing year-on-year and this pressure is reflected in all NHS services across the whole country.

“We aim to reach all our patients as quickly as possible based on their clinical need, including rural areas of our region where sparsely dispersed populations present particular challenges for all emergency services.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service says some patients waiting ‘longer than we would like’

People are having to wait longer for ambulances due to “extremely high demand” caused by covid and the easing of lockdown measures.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust issued a statement today saying demand was at winter levels.

It said demand had increased throughout April, May and June and more staff were isolating or sick due to covid.

The trust reiterated its call for people to only call in serious or life-threatening circumstances.

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Nick Smith, executive director of operations at the trust, said:

“We have been experiencing periods of extremely high demand, particularly during the last few weekends and this has had a significant impact on our operations.

“We have continued to respond to those in need as swiftly as possible, but acknowledge that some patients are having to wait longer than we would like them to.”

The trust receives around 2,800 emergency and routine calls per day and employs over 6,300 staff.

‘Critically busy’ Yorkshire Ambulance Service: ‘Only call in emergencies’

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said today it was critically busy and urged people only to call in the most serious circumstances.

Nick Smith, executive director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said in a series of tweets:

“We are currently experiencing extremely high demand and this is having a severe impact on our operations. We are implementing a number of actions in order to protect our core services for patients and respond to the ongoing demand.

“We are asking members of the public to only call us in a serious or life-threatening emergency to help us focus our efforts on our most poorly patients.”

“Our dedicated staff are working extremely hard to reach patients as quickly and safely as possible.”

Nick Smith, executive director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service

Nick Smith

Elliott Carter, a 999 emergency medical dispatcher in the emergency operations centre for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, asked people to consider making their own way to emergency departments.

‼️We are CRITICALLY BUSY at present‼️Please do only call us for immediate life saving help. Do consider, if safe to do so – making your own way to the Emergency Department. This enables us to send our Ambulances to people who desperately need them. #ChooseWell @YorksAmbulance pic.twitter.com/PFSZc0yWbF

— Elliott Carter (@YAS_ElliottC) July 4, 2021

Yorkshire Ambulance Service tweeted that it was “extremely busy this afternoon” and added the NHS Health A to Z was a good resource for information and advice on health conditions and how to get help.

It asked people to “use our services wisely”, adding.

“Emergency ambulances are for life-threatening and serious incidents only. For urgent medical advice, please use NHS 111 Online at 111.nhs.uk.”

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Homes evacuated in Starbeck due to fire

Homes have been evacuated in Starbeck as firefighters battle a blaze that broke out this evening.

Two people are being treated for smoke inhalation but there are no reports of any further injuries at this time.

The fire, in Avenue Grove, was reported to North Yorkshire Police at about 8.20pm tonight.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Yorkshire Ambulance Service are in attendance.

The area has been cordoned off.

A police statement said:

“Members of the public are advised to avoid the area while emergency services deal with the incident.”

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