The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
999 callers critical of delayed response
Awoman who called 999 has criticised the emergency response. Maureen Sinclair, 56, began haemorrhaging from her stoma bag while staying with Cathy MacCall, 57, in Oban.
An ambulance arrived after 25 minutes, but Cathy, who called the emergency number three times to stress the seriousness of the situation, said the wait felt far longer as she feared for her friend’s life.
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has apologised for any distress caused during the incident on January 17 but said it was “triaged appropriately”.
Maureen, of Kilmichael in Argyll, who had a stoma bag fitted in 2009, had gone to hospital earlier in the day after it started bleeding.
It was decided she should stay overnight at Oban’s Lorn and Islands Hospital for observation. However, she did not have a fresh stoma bag with her, and the ones they had at the hospital were the wrong size, and she was allowed to go home to get her spare.
Her condition deteriorated rapidly when she got back to the flat.
She said: “I walked the length of the kitchen and then the next thing it burst and I had blood pouring down my legs.
“We phoned an ambulance and twice Cathie was told that someone would phone her back.
“I just can’t believe it took three phone calls to get an ambulance out.
“If you dial 999 you expect an ambulance to come.
“The paramedics tried to stand me up and walk me out but realised that was impossible and put me on a trolley.”
Maureen was treated at the Lorn and Islands Hospital the following day and is recovering at Cathy’s house.
Cathy said: “It was like a murder scene in my bathroom.
“It was horrendous. “I called 999 because it was an emergency.
“It is a disgrace. She could have bled to death.
“I explained what was going on and they said someone would phone back. I said no, I need an ambulance now.
“It was during my third phone call that the ambulance finally arrived.
“The third time I said ‘Never mind your questions, get an ambulance here now’.
“I had to shout down the phone to get an ambulance.
“Meanwhile, Maureen was sitting there in a pool of blood.”
An SAS spokesman said: “We are sorry to the patient for any distress caused and hope she is recovering well.
“While we are limited in what we can say because of patient confidentiality, we can say we received a call at 8.23pm on January 17.
“We have a robust triage process in place to ensure patients get the best response for their clinical need, and based on the information provided, this call was triaged appropriately for further consultation from one of our advanced practitioners, following which it was upgraded and an ambulance was dispatched at 8.47pm and arrived at 8.48pm.”
Speaking about the decision to allow Maureen to leave hospital, an NHS Highland spokesman said: “Due to patient confidentiality, Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership is unable to comment on individual cases.”
He added: “People selfmanaging sometimes have product preferences that hospitals do not supply.
“If patients choose to go home to collect personal self-care items against medical advice, they are free to leave.”