A PARAMEDIC with West Midlands Ambulance Service has been found guilty of misconduct for swearing at a patient and abandoning him in the back of an ambulance in Birmingham last May.

A hearing at the Health and Care Professions Council in London heard Richard Playford of Kitts Green, Birmingham, launched a tirade of abuse at the 25-year-old man who had dialled 999 complaining of stomach pains.

The 64-year-old, who had worked for the service for 30 years but quit after a complaint was made against him following the incident, claimed he was diabetic and feeling unwell during at the time, but the panel branded his behaviour “inexplicable”.

Although it had been alleged Playford attempted to drag the patient out of the ambulance and stormed off with the keys to the drug safe, the allegations were thrown out. He was also not banned from working as a paramedic after the panel decided he did not pose a significant risk to patients in his new role with a private ambulance firm.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said the organisation had carried out an internal investigation into the incident and the results were made available to the hearing.

She said: “The Trust always expects the highest level of care and professionalism from its staff and unfortunately that was not the case on this occasion.”