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Date Published: 08/03/2022

ARCHIVED - Brexit deals blow to Gibraltar ambulances travelling to Spain

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

GHA ambulance drivers will now need to be resident in Spain or another EU country

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Brexit deals blow to Gibraltar ambulances travelling to Spain

Officials in Gibraltar announced on Friday March 4 that from now on, ambulances will only be allowed to transfer routine patients to Spanish hospitals if they are staffed by Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) personnel who have residency in Spain or are EU nationals.

Gibraltar authorities said that they were “extremely concerned” by the news, which first came to light when their ambulance crews were reportedly stopped at the Spanish border. “Given that the issue at stake is the health of citizens,” a government official said, the matter has already been escalated to “a higher level, both with the United Kingdom and with Spain.”

According to the local government, there will be an exception made for emergency patients in “life or death” situations; GHA ambulance staff will be allowed to transfer the patient to mainland Spain once “prior warning is given” and the patient’s condition can be evidenced.

“The same rules have been applied to St John Ambulance even though this is a charity largely manned by volunteers not by employees and evidently also not a commercial operation,” the authorities confirmed. They will also require a Spanish work contract.

For the time being, Spanish ambulances carrying out routine transfers to and from Spain won’t be affected.

Another urgent issue created by the regulations affects the transfer of platelets from Spain. The new measure means that the courier service will have to be carried out by Gibraltar ambulance staff who reside in Spain.

“In addition to this, they will need a Spanish contract of employment and this will also apply to everyone within the ambulance with the exception of the patient,” the Government added.

Also of interest: Spain complains to UK about maritime incidents off coast of Gibraltar

Image: GHA

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