THE husband of a paramedic cleared of misconduct charges over a delayed response to a call says the hearing she faced was a "waste of money" and there is a "culture of blame" in the ambulance service.
Victoria Arnott, 38, was called before a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) hearing last week after she stopped to shop in Dunfermline, Fife, during an urgent call on July 4, 2012.
She initially told colleagues she had stopped to pick up something for her computer, but the panel found she had actually visited a chemist after she began to feel unwell. Her husband David McCartney said ambulance chiefs should not have let the case get that far. He said staff "needed a bit of protection".
He said: "This matter was pursued right to the HCPC and they had no option but to investigate. It would never have gone this far if it had been taken aside by somebody who knew her and knew her track record.
"The duty manager basically phoned Vicky in a public room and questioned her in front of other individuals and that's when she was embarrassed. If the duty manager had been a bit more discreet this might not have happened."
Ms Arnott's ambulance had been called to take a suicidal patient to hospital. The HCPC panel heard she had been too embarrassed to reveal her health condition in front of colleagues. The panel found Ms Arnott was "extremely credible, reliable and professional".
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We do not comment on internal matters related to individual members of staff."
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