‘Vulnerable’ man sent home in taxi

A WOMAN claims the NHS put the life of her braindamaged brother at risk by allowing him to take a taxi home from hospital by himself.

Irene Duncan, from Dundee, said she is horrified about what might have happened when her brother Billy was left to make his own way home from the A&E department at Ninewells after being injured in a fall.

Irene, 59, said Billy was supposed to be taken home in an ambulance and by the time he returned home he was in a “dreadful state” and threw up.

As well as his brain injury, the 54-year-old suffers from lung cancer and cancer of the lymph nodes in his chest.

Irene said: “How can they justify doing this? It’s in my brother’s notes he’s vulnerable because of brain damage, let alone the cancer. Billy is never allowed out on his own.”

Irene called the family doctor after Billy fell and hurt his arm.

She said: “The doctor arranged for an ambulance to take him to A&E at Ninewells for X-rays .

“I wanted to go in the ambulance with him because Billy can’t go anywhere on his own due to the brain damage but they told me he would have to.

“Billy moved i nto supported accommodation two years ago because he requires constant help.

“I brought him to stay with me during the lockdown and to shield him because he is high risk.”

Irene said the paramedics told her an ambulance would bring him home later.

She said: “About two hours later I phoned and was told they were waiting for an ambulance to bring him home.

“Another two hours

later my brother literally fell through my front door when I opened it.

“He could hardly breathe and was vomiting all over the place.

“They put him in a taxi and sent him back to me. His own doctor said it was too dangerous for him to go in a taxi or I could have got my daughter to take him myself.

“They have just thrown seven weeks of me keeping him safe down the drain.

“Have they got any understanding of the danger they have just put him? I’m now sick with worry.

“I intend to make a formal complaint about his treatment.”

A spokesman for NHS Tayside said: “We will always ensure that our vulnerable patients are transported home safely.

“In this case, the patient was found to be fit to travel and used his own taxi card to make his way home.

“A family member was contacted to let them know he was on his way.”

Irene Duncan and her brother Billy.