Paramedic’s driving had been complained about before A21 crash

Alice Clark died after Edward Riding crashed the ambulance they were travelling in into a cement lorry on the A21 near Sevenoaks in Kent. A third paramedic, who was seated in the rear of the ambulance, which was on blue lights to an emergency, suffered severe concussion and a possible bleed on her skull. In January, Riding, of Kemps Farm Road, Crowborough, pleaded guilty to causing the 21-year-old's death by careless and inconsiderate driving.

The 45-year-old avoided jail when he was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months. During an inquest, senior coroner for North West Kent Roger Hatch gave a narrative conclusion that the death of the newly qualified paramedic on January 5, 2022, was due to a road traffic collision. He added there was a failure by South East Coast Ambulance Service to investigate complaints it had received from staff over Riding's driving.

Mr Hatch has now raised concerns in a prevention of future deaths report sent to the chief executive of Secamb. He has urged the ambulance service to tighten procedures around investigating complaints. In his report, Mr Hatch said complaints from other paramedic passengers about "the unsafe driving standards" of Riding were "not dealt with appropriately".

Mr Hatch said there was no formal complaint procedure in place and that "drive outs", which are how driving standards are assessed, should be carried out by independent assessors instead of managers. He also said they should be completed within a set time, such as every six months and stated CCTV should be viewed on a regular basis to review driving standards. A spokesman for Secamb, which will respond formally to the coroner's report, said the service has made improvements since Alice's death.

"South East Coast Ambulance Service would firstly, once again, like to offer our deepest condolences to Alice Clark's family following the loss of Alice," the spokesman said. "Following Alice's death, the trust has strengthened and increased the range of measures in place to increase the safety of our colleagues, patients and other road users. These include reinforcing a number of key driving standard policies, stressing the importance of safe driving practices with our colleagues when driving and travelling on our ambulances and, importantly, putting measures in place to allow staff concerns to be investigated and acted on swiftly.

"We are committed to ensuring that everyone who travels in our ambulances, as well as other road users, are and feel as safe as possible and we will do whatever is needed to ensure that this is the case." Following the incident Alice's parents described their daughter, from Sittingbourne, as beautiful, kind and fun-loving. "Alice was so excited to qualify as a paramedic and looked forward to every shift," they said in a statement.

"She was a beautiful, kind, fun-loving daughter, sister and granddaughter.

"She loved to travel and anyone who met her loved her.

She will be missed more than words can say by family and friends."

References

1. ^ Tributes to 'kind and dedicated' paramedic, 21, who died after ambulance crash (www.theargus.co.uk)