Pensioner in agony for six hours after dislocating new hip
A GRANDMOTHER was left “screaming in pain” during a six-hour wait for an ambulance after her new hip popped out of its socket.
Retired journalist Jeanette Smith, 78, suffered the agony as put on her slippers.
Her husband Michael called 999 but North West Ambulance Service designated her as a Category 4 “less urgent” patient.
She has now made a complaint to service bosses who have promised a full investigation.
Jeanette was at home alone when the accident happened.
She had been doing “exceedingly well” since the hip op at the end of August and was looking forward to returning to the gym.
But after putting her left leg up on her chair her hip popped out and she fell on the bedroom floor.
She said: “The pain was horrendous. I couldn’t stop screaming.”
Michael, 77, arrived home soon afterwards and the retired local government worker quickly realised Jeanette wouldn’t be able to get to his car.
However, hours after calling, an ambulance had still not arrived. And after further calls it emerged operators had relegated Jeanette as a priority. At one point the couple were told the wait could be up to 11 hours.
Jeanette, from Formby, Merseyside, later learnt in hospital she had also suffered a silent heart attack – a cardiac arrest with few or no symptoms.
She added: “When my husband called to ask where the ambulance was the person on the other end of the phone said, ‘I can hear your wife screaming’.
“And the paramedics told me they had never given someone so much morphine. I shouldn’t have been left on the floor for so long.”
Jeanette was taken to Aintree hospital where she spent four hours in a corridor before moving to A&E and on to theatre.
Dr Jim Gardner, chief medical officer at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We continue to work collaboratively with partner organisations such as North West Ambulance Service to manage the pressures on our services.”