Doctors’ emergency team needs funding

12:29pm Thursday 4th September 2008

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A group of medics in Wiltshire are working around the clock to save lives but are not receiving a penny from the Wiltshire Primary Care Trust.

The South Wiltshire Intervention for Trauma (SWIFT) team is a voluntary group of doctors who are called in by the emergency services to deal with serious accidents.

Just last week the team was at the heart of the emergency operation when a horrific pile-up occurred on the M4 just outside of Chippenham.

The team, of seven medics, receives no funding from either Wiltshire PCT or the Wiltshire Ambulance Service. The cost to keep the team on the road and saving lives is around £8,000 per doctor per year.

Member Dr Adam Brownhill, of Sandy Lane, Chippenham, said: "We all do this because we have a keen interest in accident and emergency.

"Being part of the team means that we are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On the day of the M4 crash, for instance, I was paged by the emergency services at 2am and attended the scene for about four hours, got home and changed then went to do my normal GP surgery hours.

"We aim to complement the emergency services. The job is about going out and saving lives. But we rely on handouts and donations from the public.

"There is a mechanism that the PCT can use to help us with funding but this is not commissioned.

"About every ten days we are called out to at least one incident. We are in desperate need of some funding."

The medics have to undergo extra training, use specialist equipment and go on police driving courses. They carry special equipment and drugs that the ambulance service cannot always carry.

Although the medics have not formally applied for funding from Wiltshire PCT they have continually asked for money to cover the cost of equipment and training, which has been refused.

The PCT has said that unless a formal application is received they cannot assess the need for funding.

A PCT spokesman said: "We would be happy to have a discussion with SWIFT."

Tomorrow The George pub in Sandy Lane is hosting a quiz night to raise money for SWIFT. For more information on the team log onto www.swiftmedics.net