Left lying on garden step, OAP who waited over 3 hours for ambulance
AN 82-year-old pensioner lies in a pool of blood as he waits three- and- a- half hours in the cold for an ambulance to arrive.
Retired salesman Ken Marwood tripped on steps and hit his head leaving him concussed, vomiting and bleeding.
But despite call handlers being told he suffered from a number of medical conditions, he had to lie outside in 7C (45F) conditions at his friend’s house in Darlington, County Durham.
His wife Barbara, 72, a retired civil servant, yesterday said she was left traumatised by the experience. She and her friends made four calls to the ambulance service on Tuesday, telling staff her husband was bleeding from his nose and vomiting blood.
But paramedics didn’t arrive until 2pm after the initial 10.30am call, saying Mr Marwood’s condition was not life-threatening. Call-handlers only upgraded his call after asking a raft of ‘silly’ questions, including whether he could read or write. The pensioner, who has a heart condition and high blood pressure, could not be moved inside as he was in too much pain.
Mrs Marwood, a grandmother of three, said: ‘i am disgusted. They have done four assessments. i kept checking that he was breathing, i’m traumatised.
‘My husband is an 82-year-old man. He has been sick and there was blood in the sick, he is concussed, and wanted to go to sleep. He is not well.
‘after the fourth assessment they said they would move him up the queue. They were asking silly things like “Can he read or write?”’ Mr Marwood will be back in hospital in January for a hip replacement after his first was cancelled due to high blood pressure. His wife said Mr Marwood has been left with a fracture to his cheek bone.
She added: ‘i am angry with the situation. He couldn’t move and he has a horrendous black eye. There was a big pool of blood on the flagstone. it could have been a lot worse with the length of time he was left. i kept ringing the ambulance all the time, it could have been disastrous.’
Mr Marwood was yesterday recovering at home from a broken cheek and cuts to his legs, after being released from Darlington Memorial Hospital on Tuesday evening. The couple were visiting Bob Taylor, 73, who lives with his wife Carole, 72, in Darlington. Mr Taylor said: ‘He was in too much pain to move him and i don’t think we could have lifted him.’ Douglas McDou- gall, head of emergency care (South) at the North East ambulance Service, said: ‘ We are extremely sorry for any delays... if a number of emergency calls come in for the same area at such a busy time, patients whose symptoms are not life-threatening may unfortunately experience delays.
‘in the event of a delay we aim to keep in touch with patients to monitor their symptoms and upgrade them if necessary.’