A 93-year-old woman with a suspected hip injury was left waiting 14 hours for an ambulance and a further 23 hours in a corridor at Royal Derby Hospital, according to her family. The incident occurred when a visiting health care professional called for an ambulance for Iris Webster at her home in Long Eaton, Derbyshire on 2 October. The East Midlands Ambulance Service and University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust have apologised to Webster’s family.
Webster was admitted to Royal Derby Hospital and her daughter, Julia Mends said she was cared for in an emergency department corridor near a staff station. UHBD has stated that Webster was cared for in “clinical areas” in A&E and given hot food, a sandwich and multiple drinks. Webster was discharged four days later by ambulance, but the family said they only agreed to the hospital visit because they were unsure what was wrong with her.
Mends stated that in future, the family would only agree to pain management for their mother to stay at home. She added that “nobody needs to suffer for 14 hours, crying and screaming. If we had known it was going to be 14 hours, we would have taken the risk and taken her to hospital ourselves in my brother’s car.” Garry Marsh, executive chief nurse for UHBD, apologised and asked the family to contact the hospital with their concerns, adding that A&E attendance had risen 8.4% since September 2023.
Andrew Magee, head of operations for Derbyshire EMAS, stated that the ambulance service was operating under significant pressure. “We know that we’re unable to get to all patients as quickly as we would like to, and I am deeply sorry to hear about the prolonged wait which was experienced by this patient,” he said. EMAS has requested to speak to Webster’s family to investigate their experience with the service
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
