Wednesday 25 April 2012

Private bad, public good

Just when I thought that the state could sink no lower I read this:
A transplant ambulance driver has been found guilty of speeding while travelling from Edinburgh with a human organ on board.

Andy Thomson, 46, from Blyth in Northumberland, got three penalty points and a £60 fine.

Fortunately the liver was delivered from Edinburgh to Leeds in time for a transplant operation.

It seems that there's such a thing as a "Section 37 exemption" that may be used to rule out speeding prosecutions in emergency cases. So why no exemption this time? Here's the shocking answer:

"Lothian and Borders Police have made it very clear that they will not accept a section 87 exemption from private ambulance operators, despite the fact that the exemption is only ever used in emergency situations when we are working under contract to NHS Blood and Transplant."
So is it more important to attack private suppliers than to save lives?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

46mph
Aside from the exemption issue, none of their equipment is properly calibrated through accredited providers as is done for other type of evidence and is provided for in setting up of the accreditation service and the passing of related acts and statutory insturments. The Crown Office have been told this in detail and they do not care.

Originally posted 25th April 2012