A MOTHER whose daughter died from an accidental overdose has had her calls for paramedics to be trained in control and restraint techniques rejected.

Deborah Pilkington pressed for the changes to be introduced after her daughter, 31-year-old Caroline Pilkington, died following an accidental overdose of beta-blockers in April last year.

Prior to her death, Ms Pilkington had been having a violent fit at her home in Moss Bank Way, Bolton, and paramedics who arrived on the scene called police officers to help restrain her so she could be taken to hospital.

An inquest into her death found that neither the restraining process, nor the time it took police officers to arrive at the scene, contributed to Ms Pilkington’s death, as she had ingested a fatal amount of propranolol, but her mother feared such a delay could have a negative effect in future cases.

During the inquest, Bolton Coroner Jennifer Leeming agreed with Mrs Pilkington, stating that it “did not sit well” that police officers are routinely called to such situations and questioned whether it should be a police service at all.

Mrs Leeming sent her report to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt as well as the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) chiefs and the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy.

In June, The Bolton News reported that Mr Fahy shared the coroner’s concerns, stating that he was worried his officers were forming a “default option” for certain “high risk medical emergencies.”

He said he agreed with Mrs Leeming’s proposals that paramedics should be trained in control and restraint and offered to assist NWAS with training.

However, NWAS has now written to Mrs Pilkington stating that it has no plans to train its staff in the specific techniques.

The letter, sent by the organisation’s legal team, said: “Working in conjunction with the police is, in our view, the most effective way of achieving consistency and to guarantee the safety of patients and ambulance staff.

“We maintain the position that it would not be practicable or appropriate to train all ambulance staff in more advanced or specialised restraint techniques as it would not be possible for them to sufficiently maintain such skills.”

Responding, Mrs Pilkington, who lives in Majorca, said: “Just as I expected, it looks as though nothing is going to change for the better. I’m not surprised as these things generally boil down to money and not welfare — so there will obviously be cases like Caroline’s again.

“I am very dissatisfied but I thank the coroner for attempting to change the outcome of future cases, which I’m certain there will be.”