Jackie’s agony as he waited for an ambulance
BY VIVIENNE AITKEN Health Editor AN ELDERLY man with blood pouring from his head had to lie on the floor of a bookies for more than three hours as he waited for an ambulance after a fall.
Jackie Stewart’s family say he was drifting in and out of consciousness during his ordeal.
Family and staff at the William Hill betting shop in Nitshill Road, Glasgow, were told not to move the pensioner, who had also broken his wrist.
The bookies closed the shop and tried to make Jackie, 75, as comfortable as possible during the long wait for the ambulance.
He had popped into the shop before he was due to be picked up by relatives to visit his first great-grandson George Stewart, who had been born earlier that day.
A member of his family who arrived after his fall, hit out at the “indignity” of the situation.
The woman, who is a neurosurgical nurse, said: “Staff called the ambulance three times and told them the blood was pouring out his head. Waiting more than three hours for an ambulance was ridiculous.
“No one knows what may have been happening in his brain.
“He was covered in blood. We think he tripped and hit his head on the door and then on the floor.
“It was a deep cut so there could well have been further damage inside. He needed hospital treatment straight away but we couldn’t even take him ourselves because it may have been dangerous to move him.
“After all that time, he needed the toilet and had to pee in a bucket. It was completely undignified.”
When Jackie was eventually taken to hospital, he had a brain scan that showed there was no serious injury. He needed stitches in his head and had a cast put on his wrist.
He is now recovering at home in Priesthill, Glasgow.
A spokeswoman from the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We apologise for the delay in responding to this patient.
“We prioritise our services to ensure the sickest, most seriously injured patients are given the highest priority.
“We were experiencing an exceptionally high level of demand at the time and this patient was triaged as a non immediately life-threatening emergency.
“We regret that he waited longer than we would have liked and we will be contacting the patient directly to apologise.”