News Complaint over ambulance delay
RECOVERING: Christopher had an hour-and-a-half wait for an ambulance. (05-06-53 GT)
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A grandmother plans to write to local MPs after her 18-year-old grandson was left in agony waiting for an ambulance.
Christopher Mcgeavy of Oaklands Avenue, Howden, dislocated his shoulder whilst stretching on Monday morning.
His mother rang an ambulance at 9.45am as Christopher was in so much pain and was unable to get out of bed.
The ambulance did not arrive until approximately 11.15am to take him to Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
Ambulance staff were unable to give Christopher any pain relief for the journey apart from gas and air as they were only technicians and not qualified to administer drugs.
The family has since contacted the ambulance complaints line, who told them that under Government guidelines Christopher's injury was regarded only as Category C.
They were told that the guidelines meant an ambulance has to wait for an hour before being sent to a Category C injury in case an emergency is reported which would take priority.
Christopher's grandmother, Mrs Maureen Greenwood, also of Howden, said: "We are very upset and annoyed. He was in a lot of pain. The ambulance staff told us that they were only based five minutes away from us, so why wait an hour doing nothing? It is ridiculous."
Although the injury was regarded as a Category C, both ambulance and hospital staff - who Mrs Greenwood described as 'marvellous' - agreed it should have been treated as a Category A due to the amount of pain Christopher was in.
"The nurses at Doncaster Royal Infirmary treated it as an emergency. They gave him morphine for the pain, which the ambulance staff couldn't do. It's a heck of a long way to travel with no pain relief."
Mrs Greenwood was also shocked to discover that ambulance technicians were often used, as trained paramedics are very rarely available in the area.
She now plans to write to MP for Haltemprice and Howden and Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.
"We want an explanation of the reasoning behind this Category C ruling. We are taxpayers and we pay for these services. The government policy is ludicrous,"she said.
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: "Yorkshire Ambulance Service has received a complaint from the patient's family and is looking into the concerns raised.
"In general, each 999 call is given a prioritisation category based on the information given by the caller about the patient's condition. Category A calls are when a patient is considered to have an immediately life-threatening condition such as difficulty breathing or chest pains. We aim to reach these patients within eight minutes 75 per cent of the time which is a nationally set target.
"Category B calls are when a patient's condition is considered serious but not life-threatening. We aim to reach these patients within 19 minutes 95 per cent of the time, which is a nationally-set target.
"Category C calls are not considered life-threatening or serious and we aim to respond to them within one hour."
Published on 5th June 2008 in News.
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