Ambulance cancelled
Mother of burned child shocked at treatment
had fortuitously arrived, chased up the ambulance only to be told it had been re-deployed.
The mother said: “We weren’t told it had been cancelled. It just didn’t show up. All this time my daughter was screaming and screaming and a layer of skin had come off her arm.
“She was absolutely hysterical. I couldn’t drive her anywhere, I couldn’t even call her dad to tell him what had happened because she was clinging on to me and not letting me go.”
The panicked mum rushed to Wood Lane Medical Centre, only to find it closed early. She then went to nearby Boots, also in Wood Lane, where staff helped.
Under orders from the chemist, they called 999 and were told paramedics would be at the scene within an hour.
However, after 45 minutes of frantic waiting they called again, only to be told an ambulance would not be attending the scene.
The mum said: “I was petrified. I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t get any help.”
Eventually, her husband was able to get back from work and drive his child to hospital. They finally
TJG1ST received the medical attention at around 7pm – over two hours after being told the first ambulance was on its way.
The baby was seen straight away but initial concern she had second degree burns proved false and they were later diagnosed as superficial. The child now goes to the burns unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital twice a week to have her wound treated.
The mother said she later found an LAS message on their landline cancelling the second ambulance. Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP John Randall was shocked to hear what had happened in his constituency. He said: “This sounds very unsatisfactory indeed, and very upsetting and concerning.
“I would be very interested to hear what the London Ambulance Service has to say to the family.”
An LAS spokeswoman said the ambulance was called to their address but directed to a more urgent incident. They attempted but were unable to contact the mother. She said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused but we always prioritise patients in a serious or life-threatening condition.”