999 failed me

CALLING 999 is already no guarantee of getting help (Mail).

When I fell over the kerb in the High Street, a plain clothes police officer rushed to assist and, with a security guard, carried me into a nearby Primark store.

He told me he had called for an ambulance, but after waiting four hours in the shop, the manager became concerned and dialled 999.

The call handler denied the first call had been made and then stated that as I was not unconscious or bleeding, I did not qualify for an ambulance and should catch the bus. We were all shocked by this. The manager paid for a taxi to take me to hospital.

Even though I was unable to walk, the taxi driver had no option but to leave me at the door of A&E.

Two young men in the waiting room saw my predicament and carried me to the reception desk and then to the triage nurse. I was sent home that evening with a pair of crutches and a very swollen leg. CHRISTINE QUICK, Hounslow, Middlesex.