Delays to emergency vehicles

I am a lifelong cyclist and cycling campaigner. I worked as a transport planner for many years. I have opposed Mini-Holland from the outset, particularly the road closures. I am a WFS4A committee member. Here is the main substance of an email I wrote to the Council leader, Clare Coghill a few days ago.

"........A particularly serious impact of road closures has been the delay in attendance of the emergency services because of not only the longer (and often more-congested) routes to reach addresses in closed-off roads but also the difficulty of navigating through the maze that road closures make of the street system.

In that latter context I have seen the email dialogue which you are having with my friend Colin Berry, whose attendance by ambulance as he suffered a stroke was delayed significantly because of road closures. I am pleased that you are investigating that incident.

Having myself been present when that occurred – an unnerving experience to see Colin deteriorating while the ambulance took the 2.5km, nine-minute detour imposed by the road closures, following directions that another colleague provided – I took up the matter directly with the London Ambulance Service (LAS) earlier this year. LAS’s Head of Patient Experiences, Gary Bassett, was extremely helpful in checking out their call-log and reported back to me as follows:

‘20 September 2016: The 999 call was received by our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at 21.08. The call was triaged using the system in place at that time and based on the information provided, the patient’s symptoms were determined at a highest ‘Red’ priority, which at that time attracted a target ambulance response within 8 minutes. An ambulance crew were duly sent at 21.09. The crew noted that they had difficulty accessing the address in view of local road closures although you kindly guided them to the incident address. This matter was reported to EOC before the crew eventually arrived on scene at 21.21. Following assessment, the patient was taken to hospital. There is nothing to suggest that the patient’s care was compromised by the delay.’

While I have no grounds for disputing that last sentence of Gary Bassett’s report, Colin Berry clearly intimates in his email to you that it was a life-threatening situation.

You may be aware from your fellow councillors for Hoe Street ward, or even from your Mini-Holland officers, of a similar incident in Eden Road in March 2018 in which an elderly lady on a mobility scooter was run down by a reversing refuse truck. Gary Bassett investigated that for me as well and reported:

‘15 March 2018: On this occasion, the 999 call was received by EOC at 12:57. The patient’s symptoms were determined at a Category 2 priority which attracts an ambulance response within 18 - 40 minutes with an ambulance crew being sent at 12:59. Although there is nothing in the records to indicate that they had difficulty accessing the address, our vehicle tracking system shows that they arrived at nearby Beulah Road, at the junction with Orford Road, at 13.18 but that it took them a further 7 minutes to reach the patient at 13:25. Once again, there is nothing to suggest the patient’s care was compromised.’

I can elaborate the difficulty that the ambulance crew indeed did have in accessing the address. They arrived on the Orford Road side of the closure at Eden Road, whereas they needed to reach the other side. It required a neighbour to direct them in a complete circuit of the Village: Orford Road, Vestry Road and East Avenue to the junction with Orford Road. They would have gone on an even longer detour if I hadn’t at that point invited them to pass the “no entry” into Wingfield Road and then ran ahead of them to guide them via Randolph Road into Eden Road. That detour accounts for the “further 7 minutes” that Gary Bassett refers to.

In my view the incident itself was a direct consequence of the road closure in that it forces large vehicles to reverse in one direction or the other over 200 metres. This massively contravenes the ample official (Government) guidance against highway design that forces large vehicles to reverse more than very short distances (12 metres). The guidance is clear that, if a cul-de-sac is to be created, a “turning-head” should be provided. I drew this to your officers’ attention before Mini-Holland was implemented, and in reporting to the Council in 2015 they were explicit that turning-heads would be installed at road closures:

‘Where a closure is introduced space will be provided to allow vehicles to turn around, as highlighted as a necessity by residents during the engagement process.’ (Walthamstow Village area wide improvements Appendix D- Reasons and benefits of final proposal)

In the event, this has proved to be disingenuous; no turning heads have been provided at road closures. The incident in Eden Road was the predictable outcome.

When the Mini-Holland scheme was first mooted, your officers formally consulted the emergency services. You will see that the Fire Brigade was clearly opposed to physical road closures, preferring access to be restricted by enforcement instead.

The local Brigade Station Manager was forthright in stating:

‘If physical barriers are established a practical and reasonable access solution must be found, Fire Brigade key for example or access codes for drop down barriers’.

Despite this, however, the Council’s normal practice in implementing road closures has been to preclude passage by the emergency services in any way whatsoever. ...."