GP who fell ill had to be taken 300 miles for treatment

A RETIRED GP was driven 300 miles to receive emergency care after waiting in an ambulance for six hours outside her local hospital.

Dr Alison Durkin, 61, was taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro after she called 999 to report severe chest pains. After a long wait in an ambulance, as there was no room for medics to hand her over, she was eventually examined and sent home. But the following day, Dr Durkin felt worse.

Finding similarly lengthy delays at three hospitals in the South West, her husband Ross, 63, decided to drive her on a five-hour journey to London in order to receive treatment.

He said: “I was genuinely concerned Alison wasn’t going to make it. I thought it would be our last day together. We were fortunate that we had the time and resources to embark on the journey to London, but not everyone can do that.” He said he had “nothing but praise” for NHS staff, adding that insufficient adult social care provisions had created a wave of “bed blockers” that had put pressure on hospital space.

“The problem’s been going on for years and years. People in positions of authority need to start banging their heads together to find a way of resolving this,” he said.

Dr Durkin, who has heart issues, was seen 10 minutes after arriving at Charing Cross Hospital. She is now in a stable condition.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust apologised for the distress caused.

It comes as the hospital this week declared an internal “critical incident” due to “acute pressure” on beds.

Cornwall council, responsible for social care, attributed the strain on services to recruitment issues.