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Ambulance cancelled after my father's injury

Posted By AberdeenQuine

"Ambulance cancelled after my father's injury"

About: Aberdeen Royal Infirmary / Emergency Medicine Scottish Ambulance Service / Ambulance Control Centre

(as a relative),

My 72 year old father fell and was knocked unconscious for 7 minutes and had a head wound which was bleeding profusely so an ambulance was called and the people he was with were told it would be a hour, after a hour they called back to be told it would be another hour. 

After another hour they called back to be told it could be up to 8 hours at which point they heard my father in the background saying he wasn't waiting that long so wasn't going so the ambulance operator said they had heard what had been said and were standing the ambulance down as the 'patient was refusing to go'.

Not at any point did the operator speak to my father himself to see how he was and took it upon themselves to take the ramblings of someone in the background, someone who had a head injury, and stood the ambulance down.

I then had to take my father in to A & E at ARI the following day to be checked out and get his head wound seen to. As busy as A & E were I really couldn't fault the staff from the reception team, to the triage nurse through to the doctor as their care was first class.

I appreciate the demands on services currently but I would like to know if it is normal practice for the ambulance service to stand down an ambulance without even speaking to the patient, bearing in mind why they had been called.

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Responses

Response from Julie Wattie, Nurse Manager, Medicine 1 (Medicine and Unscheduled Care Division), NHS Grampian 2 years ago
Julie Wattie
Nurse Manager, Medicine 1 (Medicine and Unscheduled Care Division),
NHS Grampian

Submitted on 10/08/2021 at 11:47
Published on Care Opinion at 11:47

Dear AberdeenQuine,

I am sorry to hear the experience that your father had after sustaining an injury. I want to thank you for the kind comments for the staff in A&E and will ensure this is shared with them as I know it will mean a lot to them. I am sure one of my colleagues from the ambulance service will respond to you.

I hope your father is recovering well.

Thanks

Julie

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Response from Lesley Kay, Patient Experience Team Leader, Corporate Affairs, Scottish Ambulance Service 2 years ago
Lesley Kay
Patient Experience Team Leader, Corporate Affairs,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 10/08/2021 at 19:56
Published on Care Opinion at 19:56

Dear AbderdeenQuine

Thank you for posting your Feedback here on Care Opinion. I am so sorry to read about the situation you have described. I can't begin to imagine how stressful and worrying this must have been for your father and for yourself too. Please accept our sincere apologies.

I would really like to have this matter fully investigated for you if I may. If you would like me to do this, please may I kindly ask for you to get in touch with our Patient Feedback team to provide us with your name and address along your father's details and date of when ambulance was called, which will allow us to locate this incident. The email address is sas.feedback@nhs.scot. If you would also be so kind to make reference to your Care Opinion Username so that if someone else picks it up, they can easily link it to this feedback.

Again, please accept our apologies

I look forward to hearing from you

Kind Regards

Lesley

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