AMBULANCE chiefs have apologised after a vulnerable pensioner was left lying on the ground for almost an hour after a fall near her home.

Kathleen Milne, 80, from Darlington, called 999 after slipping outside her sheltered accommodation last Tuesday.

Although she suffered no broken bones, she was left badly bruised and spent two nights in hospital.

Mrs Milne said she understands priority must be given to major emergencies – such as road traffic collisions and suspected heart attack patients.

 

However, despite the excellent level of care she received from paramedics when they eventually arrived, Mrs Milne is unhappy about the length of time she was kept waiting.

She said: "What is ridiculous is that the hospital itself is only a 15-minute drive, at most, from where I live.

"It's an old folks' complex and there was four or five of us sat outside in the sunshine.

"I got up to head back to my flat and I just fell."

A spokesman for the North-East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said the 999 call was made at 5.50pm and a paramedic arrived at 6.46pm

She said: "We are sorry the patient had a longer than normal wait for an ambulance.

"We received reports of a female who had suffered a fall. The call was classified as green, which means non-life threatening.

"There is no national target response time for green calls.

"At the time, crews were dealing with a number of higher-priority Red calls."

NEAS said the call was subsequently re-classified as red, due to Mrs Milne's condition.

Mrs Milne, who also has a heart condition, suffered bruising down her left hand side, to her hip and wrist.

She added: "They X-rayed me at the hospital and it was lucky nothing was broken

"Having this heart condition makes things a bit awkward and I could not understand why I had to lay there for so long."

The Northern Echo reported recently how a resident at Reuben Manor Care Home, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, waited over an hour for an ambulance following a fall.

Like other public services, the NEAS is facing steep budget cuts, meaning patients in so-called 'lower priority' cases are having to wait longer for an ambulance.

:: Have you had experiences with NEAS, good or bad? Call the newsdesk on 01325-505064.