A SERIOUSLY injured woman lay in the street for more than an hour on a cold winter’s night waiting for an ambulance that never turned up.
Later she had to wait nearly three hours in A&E at Warrington Hospital before she was seen by a triage nurse – and even after being seen by a doctor she was left on a trolley in a corridor because a place could not be found for her on a ward.
Now, more than a month after suffering head and facial injuries and two fractures of her wrist when she fell in Danebank Road, Lymm, Anne Askew, 67 and her husband Joe are still waiting for an explanation as to why an ambulance which was supposed to arrive in 10-15 minutes still hadn’t turned up after about an hour and 15 minutes.
Mr and Mrs Askew had been celebrating their grandson’s birthday at a restaurant in Lymm village and decided to walk home. Mr Askew had had a couple of pints but Mrs Askew does not drink.
They commented on how dark it was in Danebank Road and to be careful about the speed humps in the road. But Mrs Askew tripped and fell heavily on her face, screaming so loudly that a nearby resident – an off-duty police officer – rushed out to see what was happening.
He dialled 999 for an ambulance and advised that Mrs Askew not be moved. He was a former police paramedic and provided blankets to keep her warm
When the ambulance had still not arrived after 35 minutes, Mr Askew called his daughter and son-in-law who drove over from Bowdon. After about an hour Mr Askew decided they should take his wife to A&E in his son-in-law’s car and after another 15 minutes they set off. The police officer cancelled the ambulance and called A&E to explain that they were coming.
Mr Askew was especially concerned because his wife had suffered a stroke in 2011 and a brain haemorrhage in 2006.
Once at the hospital they fell foul of the temporary restriction on walk-in patients. The only people being seen were those seriously ill and brought in by ambulance, they were told by a receptionist. They explained about the ambulance not turning up but it was still two hours and 50 minutes before Mrs Askew was seen by a nurse.
Once the extent of her injuries were seen she was seen within minutes by a doctor and Mr and Mrs Askew are full of praise for the treatment they received from then on. Specialists at the Walton Neurological Hospital in Liverpool were consulted and indicated that appeared to be no need for surgery but that Mrs Askew should be kept under observations for four or five days.
Since then Mrs Askew’s condition has improved, although she is still receiving treatment. Warrington Hospital, in a telephone call, has apologised and explained that A&E were under intense pressure at the time. The North West Ambulance Service has said they are investigating the cause for the delay and this will take up eight weeks.
Mr Askew said: “We do understand the hospital is under pressure during the winter months but with my wife’s history of a stroke and brain haemorrhage we think it should have been possible for her to be seen by a medic more quickly – and we certainly think the delay in getting an ambulance to the scene is inexcusable.”
Scene of the accident in Danebank Road
