A RUDE paramedic was demoted after patients and their families complained about his bad manners on 999 calls.

Father-of-two Richard Thomas was stripped of his "elite paramedic" role after a stream of complaints about his bad behaviour on emergency call-outs with Welsh Ambulance Service.

A disciplinary hearing heard he was demoted from his post at the Caerphilly ambulance base after protests at his "disgusting" attitude on ambulance runs. Thomas, 44, told one worried mother of a child with severe stomach pains: "You should have had petrol in your car to take him yourself."

He also spoke to a pensioner struggling to breathe "as if she was an 11-year-old schoolgirl - dismissive and patronising."

And a pub landlord told how he was "disgusted at his wrong and abrupt attitude" to a pensioner having health problems in a bar.

A Health and Care Professions Council heard Thomas lost his job as an elite paramedic and was demoted to a medical technician by the Welsh Ambulance Service after complaints from the public.

The council's Conduct and Competence Committee in Cardiff heard he admitted misconduct by his "inappropriate and unprofessional manner" with patients and members of the public when he drove his rapid response vehicle.

The committee heard the trust received three complaints from members of the public about Thomas between July and August 2013.

On July 4 he was called from the Caerphilly Ambulance Station to the home of a pensioner who was struggling to breathe.

Her husband subsequently complained the paramedic was "dismissive" and patronising, speaking "as if to an 11-year-old".

The committee heard that on July 22 of the same year he was called to reports of a child suffering from "severe abdominal pains".

When he arrived he told the patient's mother she should have had fuel in her car to take him to hospital herself.

On August 5 he was called to help a pensioner in a pub.

The landlord said he was "disgusted" by the paramedic's attitude and described his behaviour as "wrong" and "abrupt".

Thomas's lawyer Sara Lewis said: "As soon as the allegations were brought he offered immediately to write a letter of apology to those individuals."

A disciplinary hearing was held in June 2014 and he was demoted.

Case presenter Benedict Newman said: "It was found he had failed to meet standards of behaviour required from trust employees."

Mr Thomas admitted he had "completely blurred the lines" in his professional role.

He said: "I clearly got myself into a very difficult situation. Part of the reason is the enormous workload I was putting myself under.

"I allowed my work to take over my life."

Mr Thomas is now working as a technician for the Hazardous Area Response Team.

The work involves helping patients in difficult environments such as confined spaces and water.

Miss Lewis stressed the incidents were "isolated" in the context of an 18-year otherwise "unblemished" career with the Welsh Ambulance Service.

Mr Thomas was handed a two-year caution order after he admitted all of the allegations about his behaviour along with another taking two vials of morphine to use with his volunteer job with the St Johns Ambulance.