Anger after Derry woman (93) waits 10 hours on ambulance
A 93-year-old Derry woman who lives a mile from Altnagelvin Hospital had to wait ten hours for an ambulance to take her to the hospital.
Bridie Hargan’s doctor told her family last Friday that she needed to be admitted to hospital.
An ambulance was called at 12.12pm to her from her home at Milltown View in Tullyally to nearby Hospital.
The geriatric ward at the hospital was informed and a bed was booked for the pensioner.
However, the ambulance did not arrive at Mrs Hargan’s house until just after 10.00pm that night.
The geriatric ward does not accept admissions after 7.00pm, so when Mrs Hargan had not turned up by 7.00pm her bed was given to someone else.
After finally being brought to the hospital, she had to wait a further seven hours in the casualty department before a bed became available.
The Ambulance Service has apologized for the delay in bringing the pensioner to hospital and said that the crew originally due to collect her had been diverted to an emergency call.
However, the woman’s family described her treatment as a ‘disgrace’.
“She only lives a mile from the hospital, but yet it takes more than 10 hours for an ambulance to come to help her,” said Mrs Hargan’s daughter-in-law, Maureen.
“If we had had a wheelchair ourselves we could have pushed her there much quicker.”
She added that her mother-in-law was left distraught by her experience.
“She was obviously very sick for the doctor to take the decision to have her admitted to the hospital.
“Everything seemed to be going well and we were told that a bed had been booked for her.
“However, the longer and longer the wait went on, the more distressed she became.
“And then to eventually arrive at the hospital, only to be told that her bed had been given away because she was admitted so late, made things even worse.
“She then had to wait around seven hours in the casualty department before a bed was found her.
“So that was 17 hours after she was originally due to be admitted to the hospital.
“It’s a disgrace that we are treating people of this age in such a way.”
A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said they received a GP request at 12:12 last Friday to transport a patient from her home to Altnagelvin Hospital.
“NIAS was asked to pick the patient up within 2 hours,” the spokesperson said.
“At 14:20 an ambulance was dispatched to the address supplied, but unfortunately had to be diverted to a Category A life threatening call instead.
“NIAS prioritises all calls received at its control centre, with the highest priority being afforded to life threatening calls.
“NIAS regrets that an ambulance did not then become available again to pick the patient up until 22:04. The reason for the delay was the number of higher priority calls received at ambulance control.
“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise, for this delay, to the patient and her carers who, if they wish, can make a formal complaint by contacting the NIAS Complaints Manager on 028 9040 0999.”
A spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust), which manages Altnagelvin Hospital, said: “All patients who present at the Emergency Department are assessed as quickly as possible and those who require urgent treatment are prioritised.
“Respecting patient/client confidentiality the Trust does not comment on individual cases.
“If a patient or their relative has any issue in relation to their treatment we would encourage them to raise these issues through the Trust's comments and complaints system - the Patients' Advocate Office.
“The Patients' Advocate Office can be contacted on (028) 7161 1226.
“All complaints received are investigated promptly and a response issued to the person making the complaint as soon as possible.”