Mystery of flu heels that fall of
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ALL OVER Scotland, Bedford CF ambulances are locked in their depots, victims of a mystery fault which has caused them to shed wheels in recent months.
Throughout the Scottish Ambulance Service — Britain's only national as opposed to local authority ambulance service — crews have blacked the vehicles, resulting in the service's restriction to accident and emergency work only.
In the last 18 months, wheels have fallen off Bedfords on at least 12 occasions, and perhaps as many as three times that number have lost wheelnuts during maintenance checks.
The incident which prompted the action occurred in Glasgow's Stepps Road on July 27 when the rear nearside wheel fell off a CF on a relatively slow journey with a hospital-bound patient. No one suffered any injury then, but crews' patience snapped and a ban on the vehicles extended outwards from Glasgow.
A Transport and General Workers Union official said at the time: "They are dangerous. We are not going to drive them. That's it."
Crews and management were aware for some time that wheelnuts were working loose and conducted various experiments to try to remedy the problem.
Wheelnuts were tightened beyond the torque recommended by Vauxhall, but this did not work, the only really satisfactory solution being doubling up of nuts on some vehicles at the East Kilbride depot.
Crews there were happy with their vehicles before the latest ban, but the latest incident has prompted the crews to demand a guarantee that no more wheels will fall off, as they fear for their passengers' safety.
A spokesman for the crews said: "Our concern is for the safety of the patients first, and then for ourselves. We will give the best service we pos sibly can with the ambulances we are manning."
The main problem with the vehicles has been the total mystery surrounding the fault — and why it seems only to affect Scottish CFs.
Vauxhall has been in constant touch with the Scottish Ambulance Service since the problem began, and suggested the various wheelnut tightening measures. Its engineers have made regular visits to Scotland to look at the vehicles, but still the problem persists.
Over 20,000 CFs are in use throughout the world in a wide variety of applications, and Vauxhall says that none of these has shown signs of the Scottish ambulance malaise.
The ambulance wheels do not differ from those on the standard CF25 van, so could they be inadequate for the job?
Hardly likely, because the London Ambulance Service which has lent 10 ambulances to Scotland, has had little trouble with its large CF fleet. Certainly, the topgraphy of London is not the same as some parts of Scotland, but any emergency vehicle which can withstand the thrashing of London traffic will surely endure almost anything.
Scottish topography cannot really be blamed anyway, as the faults have occurred in various parts of the country, and places like Glasgow or Edinburgh are little hillier than London.
Another possibility is that over-keeness to keep the vehicles smart may be a contributory factor. If wheels are repainted, the paint may flake at a later stage and work the nuts loose. This has affected vehicles in public service elsewhere, but no evidence has yet come from Scotland.
Again there is no evidence, but it is possible that training somewhere along the line is inadequate. Maybe mechanics are not following correct procedures or drivers need to be given more driving skills tuition.
Whatever the reason, Vauxhall is convinced that its record is clean. "We strongly deny that there is a design fault in this model. Why does the problem only happen in Scotland?" said a spokesman.
The SAS is fitting double cone nuts to some of the vehicles in an attempt to remedy the fault. But only time will tell whether the vehicles are made safe, and outpatients, elderly day patients, and clinic patients will continue to depend upon taxis and other forms of transport.
It may point out the urgent need, not for a standard Scottish ambulance which can hardly be justified when talking of a 800-vehiclefleet, but for a national stand vehicle.
The Department of He and Social Security has lac at specifications for stant vehicles, but these still dep upon Ford Transit and Bed CF running gear. It may unkind to label these glorified bread vans, but t are not purpose-built an lances and must represei compromise between the vehicle and cost-effectiven All that is for the fut though, and of no comfor Scottish hospital pati( whose journey for treatme made difficult by a prob which is baffling all exp called in to look at it.