PENSIONER GIVEN HOURS TO LIVE FORCED TO WAIT HALF A DAY FOR AMBULANCE

PENSIONER GIVEN HOURS TO LIVE FORCED TO WAIT HALF A DAY FOR AMBULANCE

A pensioner given hours to live was made to wait HALF A DAY for an ambulance to take her to a care home where she wants to live out her last moments.

Nellie Boardman, 95, was rushed to hospital with pneumonia and all her organs began to fail just before 2pm on Tuesday (14/6).

She made plans with her family to spend her final days at Moriah House Care Home in Carlton, Nottingham, as she fought for her life at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham.

But incredibly, it took over six hours for an ambulance to arrive to pick up Nellie from the hospital.

The family was given a string of excuses my hospital workers until the Arriva Ambulance Service finally arrived at 8pm.

Daughter Barbara Hardy, 70, of Southwell, Notts., said: “All the stories were conflicting.

“First they said the ambulance hadn’t been booked, but the nurses assured me it had.

“Then they re-booked it and we were told they were on their way, but had other patients to drop off first.

“And then when I called them at 7.05pm, they said they were just on Middleton Boulevard, but it was another hour until they showed up.”

Even when the ambulance crew did arrive, there were further issues as they didn’t have portable oxygen, which Nellie needed to travel.

Barbara said: “I was incensed. It was so awful and no-one seemed to care.

“My mother was dying and needed that ambulance, but for anyone to wait that long. It is unacceptable.

“We never want this to happen again.

“But so many people there said this is just the way it is, this is just what happens. It makes me so angry.”

Nellie was still at Moriah House yesterday (Sat), but was only able to consume liquids.

Andrew Cullen, national head of patient transport services for Arriva, said: “We experienced a surge in demand for transport for patients being discharged from Queen’s Medical Centre on Tuesday afternoon, which placed increased pressures on our service.

“Many of these patients were booked on the day, restricting the opportunity to pre-plan transport.

“A large number of these patients also needed to be transported on a stretcher, adding further pressure on our resources.

“Unfortunately this resulted in Mrs Boardman waiting an unacceptable length of time for transport.

“I understand that having a relative in hospital is an extremely difficult and upsetting time, especially when a patient is receiving palliative care.

“We have contacted the family to offer a personal apology and explain the circumstances that resulted in the delay in transport.

“We carry out hundreds of patient journeys every day and remain committed to providing a high-quality transport service for all of our patients in Nottinghamshire.”

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Login

    Register | Lost your password?