Macclesfield Hospital hailed as 'tremendous' after gran's lengthy wait for ambulance
By SWNS
5th Apr 2024 | Local News
A pensioner has praised Macclesfield Hospital, following a recent fall.
Betsy Hulme, 83, was left lying outside in the cold facing a seven hour wait for an ambulance following a fall before finally being rescued — by firefighters.
The gran was left in agony with a broken hip when she tumbled in her back garden in Leek, Staffs., last Tuesday (26/3).
Son Steve, 60, a former ambulance technician, dialled 999 only to be told it would be several hours until paramedics could get to them due to long handover delays.
After a further three hours of Betsy waiting on cold concrete slabs while soaked in rain water, desperate Steve decided to drive to a nearby fire station to ask for help.
Fire crews then came to rescue to lift gran-of-four Betsy into her son's car who took her to hospital where she remains after undergoing a hip repair operation.
Dad-of-two Steve, of Leek, has now branded emergency response times as "absolutely disgusting".
He said: "It's opened my eyes if I'm honest. It's absolutely disgusting. I'm so grateful and thankful to the fire service - but it really isn't their job.
"I can't remember in my time working as an ambulance technician going to someone and saying, 'I'm sorry it's taken us twelve hours to get here'.
"It was never anywhere near those ridiculous times when I worked there until 2000 and something has gone drastically wrong since.
"I can't speak highly enough of the boys and girls who work in the NHS, it's the people above them. Its systemic change that's needed.
"It is happening more and more and people have died. Something needs to be done quickly if the ambulance service can't cope.
"My mum has never had an ambulance called before and she could just not understand why it was taking so long and why she was being left to wait on wet concrete for hours on end."
Steve was called by his mum, a retired school dinner lady and carer who lives with husband George, 90, at around 2pm.
Just a week earlier, she had been discharged from hospital after having surgery on her left leg.
After facing a seven hour wait, Steve decided to drive to the fire station at around 5pm and by 5.20pm, Betsy was on her way to hospital.
Retired Steve explained: "I had a call from my mum at around 2pm last Tuesday to say she had a fall.
"I only live a couple of miles away so went round to find it was more than just a fall and she was flat out on the concrete in the garden.
"The neighbours had already called 999 and were told it would be seven hours before an ambulance could get to us.
"So we got her as comfy and warm as we could with blankets and I called back at around 3.30pm to ask for an update.
"It was getting colder and wetter but we were still told it was likely to be several hours before they could get to us.
"By 5pm I just thought I had no other option but to look for help elsewhere so went to the fire station down the road and they were brilliant.
"By 5.20pm, we had her in my car and we went to Macclesfield Hospital, who were also tremendous.
"I don't know what we would have done without the help of the fire crews or what time an ambulance would have got to us - but its unacceptable.
"We had no other option. I was reluctant because moving somebody with a broken hip into a car can be very risky.
"But there wasn't much choice apart from leaving her in the cold and wet until it got dark."
Steve, who worked for the ambulance service for 17 years, said a call handler also told him the service had lost its contract for first responders.
He added: "I asked for a first responder if no ambulance was available but was told they no longer had them as they lost the contract.
"I've since found out from ex-colleagues it was actually a decision from the top and these first responder cars don't exist anymore because they weren't cost-effective.
"You'd think they would need all available mobile resources at a time the ambulances are facing huge delays.
"I just can't believe what's going on. I have made a complaint but have heard nothing back from them so far."
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) apologised and said at the time it was experiencing long handover delays at hospitals.
A spokesperson said: "Firstly, we would like to offer our apologies to the patient and her family.
"Unfortunately, we were experiencing long hand over delays at hospitals at the time which equated to taking 13 ambulances off the roads of Staffordshire.
"We rely on each part of the health and social care system working together so that our ambulances can get to patients in the community quickly.
"If our crews are caring for patients outside hospital, they can't respond to patients as quickly as we would all want.
"Based on the information provided, the initial call was triaged as a Category 3, an urgent but not life threatening situation.
"Due to the handover delays, we alerted the caller that it could be several hours before we would arrive.
"We do this based on feedback from serious incidents, patient feedback and comment from groups such as Healthwatch.
"Families involved in these cases requested that we share this information with them."
A Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We have a specially-trained falls team in operation working alongside the NHS.
"The team can be tasked to respond to non-injury falls where patients may need to be helped to their feet or a chair, and checked to ensure they're safe and well.
"Calls still come via 999 and NHS 111, who will make the initial triage, and then assign our falls team to those patients who aren't injured but just need some assistance, to help relieve pressure on the ambulance service.
"The team has received bespoke training, use specialist equipment and look to resolve any immediate problems that might have caused the fall.
"The team has been in place since December 2022 and during that time they have assisted over 1,000 fallen patients."
However, the spokesperson added the firefighters who stepped in to help Betsy were not part of the specially-trained fall team mentioned in their statement.
New macclesfield Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: macclesfield jobs
Share:
