Pensioner hits out at ambulance service
Wife, 78, missed crucial treatment
A disgruntled pensioner has hit out at the Scottish Ambulance Service after his dementiastricken wife was forced to wait in discomfort for nearly a month for hospital treatment due to transport blunders.
Robert Cossar, 79, booked his wife Sandra in for a gynaecology procedure at Hairmyres Hospital early last month but had to reschedule the appointment when transport couldn’t be provided.
Due to her condition badly affecting her balance, Sandra, 78, needs fullyequipped transport with a stair climber.
However, after changing the appointment to a fortnight later, the Calderwood couple were let down yet again when another ambulance failed to show up on time which meant Mrs Cossar missed her appointment.
Mr Cossar described the entire “fiasco” as disgraceful.
The Scottish Ambulance Service have this week apologised for what happened.
“An arrangement was made to collect her and details about her condition were given,” Mr Cossar said.
“I made it clear that my wife required transportation via ambulance and would require a stair climber.
“When the ambulance failed to show I was initially told by the control room that it had been marooned at the depot due to flooding.
“Then when I called back two hours later the story changed. On a night that the whole of Britain braced itself for a hurricane, I was told that two ambulances were not equipped to do the job after being parked up at the depot and the windows being left down soaking the seats.
“An inappropriate vehicle was then deployed without the necessary equipment for my wife and again she had to forgo her appointment.
“Apart from the fact that this was a huge inconvenience, the lack of coordination between the ambulance service and referral management services is disgraceful. It’s ludicrous that they do not talk to each other and it is left to the patient to make the necessary arrangements.
“And, quite frankly, I think they were just making up excuses to get me off the phone.”
He added: “I cannot believe two ambulance crews walked away and left windows open in that weather. The inefficiency of the situation is mindblowing.
“My wife has needed treatment and has been suffering from discomfort. This has not been a good experience for her.
“If this happened to me on two occasions in one month it must be happening to a lot of people – that is an incredible waste of time and money.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “Clearly Mrs Cossar’s experience was not acceptable and we would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.
“We would encourage Mrs Cossar to contact our patient experience team so that they can further investigate the circumstances around her concerns and see if any lessons can be learned.
“Meanwhile, the service is currently recruiting and training 59 ambulance care assistants to fill vacancies across the country, and we are reviewing shift patterns to ensure we are maximising the availability of our patient transport service resources.”