"The Strain on the 999 Ambulance Service"

I had an unfortunate and unexpected accident when I'd a seizure while riding my bike. 

Unfortunately, the people I was with were told an ambulance which they rang 999 for would be 4+ hours to assist them - escort me to [in this case] the QEUH. 

This resulted in me lying on the ground, in the cold, wet weather. Soaked through as I was in an exposed, open area.

The people I was with managed to get their van to transport me to the QEUH,  some 30 minutes later after I'd stopped seizing and regained consciousness enough to get to my feet.  

By the time I'd got into the QEUH, I'd already got soaked through and was shivering.....on my arrival to A&E.  

While I understand the strain on the Ambulance Service is due to a range of factors -  including bed blockages in the hospital preventing patients being taken off of Ambulances to free them up for responding to 999 calls -  I feel the need for investment in the Ambulance fleet - stock to meet the demand as well as having enough trained Paramedics/ auxiliaries on duty -  is paramount.

I get particularly irate when I see the fleet of private Ambulances just sitting there unused down by the Distillery...... as these are perfectly good Ambulances [albeit privately owned] which are sitting doing nothing a great deal of the time.

Now when I see an NHS ambulance with blue lights pass by it gives me memories of that fateful day in which I was made to lie outside in the cold, wet weather.

This is the 1st and hopefully last time I will be made to wait that level of time for an ambulance, especially given I was outside. 

I hope this can be flagged up as an example of why improvements are needed financially, as well as systemically to ensure the NHS can meet the demands it faces and find alternatives for those less urgent cases who are making repeated calls to the 999 Ambulance Service and not being addressed differently 

I also hope those who call 999 repeatedly or feel they've a right to call about any ailments even if not accident or emergency related think twice about calling 999. As there are other options available like NHS. 24 ; The Minor Injuries Unit, Out Of Hours G.P. Service as well as your local Pharmacy who can refer you.

Disappointed in the level of service I failed to receive. But I just hope this can be logged and reported to prevent anyone else having to wait unnecessarily long to be attended to, treated, and safely transported to A&E in future.