Hospital refused to help stricken mum yards from its front door
‘Left a child to cope alone’
HOSPITAL staff refused to respond to a distressed teenager’s cries for help after her mother passed out in the car park.
Jenna Gilbertson, 38, fainted outside the building after feeling hot and dizzy.
Her daughter Amie, 13, ran back into the hospital for assistance but was told by a receptionist no one could help and that she should go back outside.
When her mother collapsed a second time, the distraught schoolgirl had to phone for paramedics.
Mrs Gilbertson fainted as she left Midlothian Community Hospital in Bonnyrigg, where she had been having her wrist X-rayed.
She said she is ‘angry’ and ‘shocked’ over how the situation on January 5 was handled.
She added: ‘I can’t believe it actually happened.
‘I was in shock at first but it is now hitting home how severe it might be. Medical training or not, it is human instinct to help.’
After Amie was told there was nothing hospital staff could do for her mother, who was lying in the rain, she returned to her side to tend to her.
Mrs Gilbertson then managed to get to a nearby bench and then to her car. But the school learning assistant fainted again, prompting the terrified teenager to phone her father, William Gilbertson, 42.
He told her to call paramedics. A visibly upset and distressed Amie had to run back into the hospital to get its correct name before alerting the emergency services.
Mrs Gilbertson said: “My daughter is not medically trained. She told the receptionist her mum had fainted but what if it was a stroke, or something worse?
‘My daughter was so upset, she was distressed – but the only help she got was the name of the hospital. Nobody came out to see or anything.
‘My daughter was very, very shaken but I don’t know what I’d have done without her.
‘I’m very, very proud. She deserves a special treat for how she acted. We asked her what she wanted and she said another cat but my husband said no.’
After hospital staff told Amie the name of the hospital and let her leave alone, another patient followed her and waited with mother and daughter, from Dalkeith, Midlothian, until an ambulance arrived.
Paramedics found a sudden drop in blood pressure had caused Mrs Gilbertson to faint.
Mrs Gilbertson said: ‘I told the paramedics everything was fine and I just wanted to go home.
‘They told me that the hospital’s actions were shocking. They told me the reception should’ve made sure Amie had some support.’
Mrs Gilbertson sent two e-mails to the NHS to complain about what happened but did not receive a response.
She said: ‘I can’t believe anybody would leave a child to cope with that on their own. A doctor or nurse might have come out if they’d been made aware.
‘My husband is very angry. He couldn’t believe it. Nobody can believe it. If you see an animal collapse in the street, you wouldn’t leave it. You don’t need medical training to come and help and make sure a child was OK.’
Amie, a second-year pupil at Dalkeith High School, said: ‘I was really scared. I had no idea what was going on.
‘I went back inside to ask where we were because I didn’t know what town we were in. It made me angry but at the same time sad.
‘She was unconscious for just under a minute. I was shouting at her, “Wake up, wake up”. I told her I was going to call an ambulance.’
Allister Short, the joint director for Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership, called Mrs Gilbertson ‘after the story appeared in the news’, she said, adding: ‘He called and apologised profusely. The director spoke to the receptionist and she said to him that she didn’t know what to do. So instead of helping, she did nothing.
‘He couldn’t apologise enough. He admitted they were totally lacking.’
In a statement, Mr Short said: ‘I would like to offer a sincere apology to Jenna Gilbertson, her daughter and her family.
‘We place a high value on patient care and we will be looking into this matter fully to find out what happened and what we can do to ensure something like this does not happen again.’