Outrage after Shropshire 999 responder dismissed over shredded patient forms

Effie Cadwallader, who has been a community responder in St Martins, near Oswestry, for 11 years, breached the Data Protection Act in destroying the records, West Midlands Ambulance Service has said today.

But the news has prompted outrage in the local community, with a petition launched calling for her to be reinstated.

Jamie Arrowsmith, a spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "It was with great regret that we terminated Mrs Cadwallader’s volunteer agreement as a community first responder, as she had been a very dedicated member of the team.

"However, she has admitted destroying patient report forms, a matter that has previously been raised with her as unacceptable practice. These legal documents describe the treatment received by a patient and as such could be requested by a coroner or other court.

"By destroying them, Mrs Cadwallader has breached the Data Protection Act; the trust is examining whether this breach needs to reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.

"In addition, she has broken numerous Trust policies including the community first responder framework, the confidential waste procedure and the records management policy.

“Mrs Cadwallader had previously been reminded of the procedures to be followed for any documentation that may remain with a community first responder. As such the trust was left with no option but to take the deeply regrettable decision was to terminate her agreement.”

News of Mrs Cadwallader's termination has infuriated residents, who have called her dismissal "unfair" and a now a petition has been launched by village supermarket Stans Superstore to reinstate her.

Robert Foulkes, one of the partners at Stans Superstore, has called the action of the ambulance service "disgusting".

He said: "To think that for the hours, compassion and professionalism that Effie has given to the ambulance service and the local community, this is the thanks she gets. It's a total disgrace.

"Effie is a well-respected member of the community, known by all and always seen in her red uniform. We at Stans knew well, for when she attended to our customers and staff over the years.

"A few years back I fell off a ladder from about 12 foot high and broke my wrist, Effie was first to arrive, she arrived within five minutes and she was absolutely brilliant, she reassured me and before the ambulance arrived she checked me over and could see I'd broken my wrist.

"I think action like this is appalling, it doesn't encourage people to volunteer and also it's going to take time train someone else up, get to know the area and the roads, that's going to be time consuming and time is a crucial thing when dealing with people who are injured."

In a post on Facebook, Mrs Cadwallader's husband Les said: "Left holding two sheets of paper which ambulance crews declined to take but which she is not allowed to keep, she decided to shred them.

"For this, the West Mercia Community Response dismissed her with immediate effect, saying that she had put the West Midlands Ambulance Service "at risk". She received neither a warning nor any thanks for her many years of volunteering.

"She is trying to get the dismissal reversed, but for the time being at least the red suits will have to be put into cold storage. As to how she and I feel about this."