Unbelievable

[otherclive]

1030 this morning we drive by our local church and there was a lady lying in the ground, half her body on the kerb, half on the road. There were three people around her and she was covered in some blankets. Driving home at 1210 she was still there as she was when I drove to the HRC. at 1420. Coming back from the HRC at 1450 an ambulance had just pulled up.

I don’t know the circumstances but nearly 4.5 hours to wait for medical attention tells me there’s a lot more work required to get the NHS back to par.

 

[Mr Plodd]

A while back we we were at a walking group lunch at a pub, one of the members had what appeared to be a stroke. So I rang for an ambulance, explained exactly what the symptoms were and asked how quickly they could get an ambulance to us as we were, at most, a 5 minute car journey from A & E, so if the ambulance was going to take longer I would bundle the lady into my car and take her there to save time.

Despite much cajoling the call handler simply refused to tell me "We cannot give out that sort of information" being the constant reply to my pleas.
Why not asks me, I am trying to do the very best for this patient, just tell me if it's going to be here quicker than me taking her to hospital myself. A simple enough question, or so I thought. But no, I was just met with the same pathetic answer. Whilst attempting to talk some sense into the operator I heard a siren approaching, which happiky turned out to be "my" ambulance (in double quick time I thought)

But what a ludicrous situation to be in, a simple "I cannot get an ambulance to you for 15 minutes" or whatever would have enabled me to make an informed decision and get the lady to A & E with minimum delay as time is critical in regards to treatment for a stroke.

I am glad to say the lhe lady made a 95% recovery from her stroke, but would the end result have been so good if I had waited and the ambulance had taken 20 minutes???

 

[RogerL]

A while back we we were at a walking group lunch at a pub, one of the members had what appeared to be a stroke. So I rang for an ambulance, explained exactly what the symptoms were and asked how quickly they could get an ambulance to us as we were, at most, a 5 minute car journey from A & E, so if the ambulance was going to take longer I would bundle the lady into my car and take her there to save time.

Despite much cajoling the call handler simply refused to tell me "We cannot give out that sort of information" being the constant reply to my pleas.
Why not asks me, I am trying to do the very best for this patient, just tell me if it's going to be here quicker than me taking her to hospital myself. A simple enough question, or so I thought. But no, I was just met with the same pathetic answer. Whilst attempting to talk some sense into the operator I heard a siren approaching, which happiky turned out to be "my" ambulance (in double quick time I thought)

But what a ludicrous situation to be in, a simple "I cannot get an ambulance to you for 15 minutes" or whatever would have enabled me to make an informed decision and get the lady to A & E with minimum delay as time is critical in regards to treatment for a stroke.

I am glad to say the lhe lady made a 95% recovery from her stroke, but would the end result have been so good if I had waited and the ambulance had taken 20 minutes???

I'm surprised they wouldn't give you that information - a couple of years ago I fainted when I stood up too quickly (to chase a cat!) - my wife and a neighbour called for an ambulance and were told they were under extreme pressure so could they take me to hospital themselves, which they did.

 

[Buckman]

When OH had an issue, they were around within the hour however on arrival at A&E she was kept in the ambulance for 8 hours!

 

[Beardy]

When OH had an issue, they were around within the hour however on arrival at A&E she was kept in the ambulance for 8 hours!

So two paramedics and an ambulance unable to respond to emergencies for 8 hours. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Buckman]

So two paramedics and an ambulance unable to respond to emergencies for 8 hours. 🤦‍♂️

If we add up all the occasions in 2022 that she spent trapped in the ambulance we are probably looking at over 30 hours. Every time was a life threatening emergency.