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My Heart attack

Posted By pictorbc43

"My Heart attack"

About: Mater Hospital / Acute Admission/Short Stay Assessment Unit Mater Hospital / Cardiology Northern Ireland Ambulance Service / Emergency ambulance response

(as a service user),

December 2021. Woke in the early morning with heartburn. Got up took medication, made a cup of tea and sat up for an hour.  Went back to bed but unable to sleep as I had a discomfort in my left arm, no pain just a discomfort.  Got up again but after another hour my breathing started to become laboured and loud.  Woke my wife and asked her to test me for covid. Test was negative

My wife dialled 999.  I waited for more than and hour for an ambulance to arrive, which is not acceptable.  The staff heard my breathing from the front door and were calming and professional.  Despite 3 attempts to transfer me to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH). I was taken to the Mater. Having been assessed I was informed I had a heart attack and was to be urgently transferred to the RVH where they were waiting for me.  That transfer didn’t happen until early evening by which time I had missed my slot.

Waiting Time

Waiting time



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Responses

Response from Neil Gillan, Co-Production & Partnership Lead, Quality, Safety & Improvement, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service nearly 2 years ago
Neil Gillan
Co-Production & Partnership Lead, Quality, Safety & Improvement,
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service

Submitted on 01/08/2022 at 15:05
Published on Care Opinion at 15:05

picture of Neil Gillan

Dear pictorbc43

Thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience with us. I am sorry for both the delays in the initial ambulance response time and the transfer to the RVH. I can assure you we are working closely with the Department of Health and the Strategic Planning and Performance Group to increase our available resources. We are also working closely with local EDs to try to ensure that our patients can be handed over to hospital clinical teams as quickly as possible so that ambulances are able to respond to patients. I am reassured to hear that on arrival the NIAS staff we calming and professional and I do hope you are recovering well.

Best wishes

Neil

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Update posted by pictorbc43 (a service user)

Thank you Neil. NIAS staff were exceptional as were everyone I dealt with. The after care from the Cardiac Rehab team at the LVH are another specific group that I am extremely lucky to have supporting me and others in their recovery.

Response from Neil Gillan, Co-Production & Partnership Lead, Quality, Safety & Improvement, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service nearly 2 years ago
Neil Gillan
Co-Production & Partnership Lead, Quality, Safety & Improvement,
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service

Submitted on 02/08/2022 at 13:24
Published on Care Opinion at 13:24

picture of Neil Gillan

Dear pictorbc43,

Thank you for following up. I would like to share your feedback with the NIAS staff involved in your care, in order to do so I would need a few more details about the date, time and location of the call. If you would like to provide more details please contact me directly at neil.gillan@nias.hscni.net.

Best wishes

Neil

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