STELLA’S STORY
IN the middle of the night, Stella suffers a panic attack; she thinks she is dying. She can’t catch her breath; her heart is pounding, her hands are sweating and she feels dizzy and nauseous. Alone and frightened, she gets out of bed, pulls on her dressing gown and walks to the kitchen where she lies herself down on the floor next to her telephone and dials 999.
This isn’t the first time she has made the same call. She has phoned on three previous occasions this week alone. Each time an ambulance crew has been dispatched. In fact, over the last few months, paramedics have been sent to her home in a Cornish village more than 50 times. And she has never once had a clinical diagnosis for a complaint that warrants emergency admission to an acute hospital. Sometimes the crew have been able to confirm there is nothing seriously wrong with her. Reassured by their attention and kindness, she has been settled back in bed after they’ve made her a hot drink and asked her to make an appointment to see her GP in the morning.
On other occasions the 60-yearold insists that she has fallen and can’t put weight on her legs, or that her chest pain is so severe she might be having a heart attack.
She lost her last job as a cleaner four years ago because she kept being late or taking time off sick.
She has debts she doesn’t know how to pay, and she struggles with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) after years of heavy smoking. She has inhalers but she often forgets to pick up her prescription or to take them regularly and correctly.
She used to ring her son if she panicked in the night but they fell out and he refused to answer her calls any more. He said he’d got enough problems of his own and stopped visiting. Her neighbours didn’t like it when she banged on their door and asked her to stop.
By the time she is referred to the high intensity 999 user service, Stella’s world has shrunk into a lonely and anxious place inside her bungalow where her only company is the TV and she has no personal contact on a regular basis. She doesn’t like going out alone but just about manages to get to the village shop.
Six months after Natalie’s first visit, Stella is walking to a weekly knit and natter group at the village hall and is nattering more than knitting. She is also attending a Breathe Easy group for her COPD, with volunteer transport provided, and she’s meeting others with the same condition.
Natalie has helped Stella manage her debts and she now has a small amount of disposable income that allows her to socialise. She has only called 999 twice; when she has felt anxious or panicky she has called Natalie straight away, rather than carry her worries into the night. Her son is due to visit soon, having re-established their contact.