5 hour wait for ambulance... 94yr old man.

Poor thing. He must have been frightened,so upsetting. I wonder if he had a personal alarm. My mum lives alone and has pressed her alarm many times, if I’m away they call the police, they then stay with her until the ambulance arrives.

There are also mental health crises that ambulances are called for now; it is what is advised, so they are dealing with some very complex situations.

I saw a programme about ambulance crews, and they said they are ill equipped to deal with these things, but would never leave someone having problems.

MaizieD

Grandma70s

How long have these waiting times been going on? I needed an ambulance before Christmas and it arrived very quickly. Not private.

I think it depends on what part of the country you're in. I'm not hearing tales of long waits for ambulances or a & e treatment in my part of the NE.

This all sounds quite speedy compared to the waiting times in Wales.

Yes, I heard the recording, lemsip. Very distressing indeed.
And utterly disgraceful.

Ooops! Sent message too soon.

I couldn't find a breakdown by area for the whole country, but this is a graph for my area. Yes, it's just averages, but it represents the sum of individual cases.

In 2017, I had a heart attack and was taken to ambulance and had a stent fitted within an hour of the heart attack. The ambulance arrived within minutes. Timing was critical and, as a result of the speed, I don't have any damage to my left ventricle, which delays would have caused.

Heart attacks are Category 2 calls, so these days I would have had to have waited an average of 50-80 minutes (it's improved over the summer months). Even if I'd "only" waited the average of 50 minutes, it would have been too late. I could have died or, at best, been left with permanent damage to my heart. Unfortunately, half of people have to wait more than the average time.

Apparently, the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has the worst ambulance waiting times in England (sorry, don't know about Wales).

Wales seems to record the statistics slightly differently, but I can't see there's a significant difference between England and Wales. Some English regions appear to be worse than the Welsh average.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/welsh-nhs-described-broken-waiting-23742320

growstuff

Wales seems to record the statistics slightly differently, but I can't see there's a significant difference between England and Wales. Some English regions appear to be worse than the Welsh average.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/welsh-nhs-described-broken-waiting-23742320

Wales seems to record the statistics slightly differently

The figures seem astonishingly good compared to my admittedly anecdotal evidence.

JaneJudge

I agree with you Dickens. I wonder whether the Prime Minister would think it was acceptable to lie naked and cold and in pain in the shower for goodness sake for 5 hours. It is unimaginably cruel I hope your partner is ok.

Thank you JaneJudge.

He's more or less OK now, but it has shaken his confidence and he's very tentative about walking around (he has Spinal Stenosis). We are looking at installing a walk-in / wet-room type of shower with grab bars.

I kept him as comfortable as possible with blankets and a pillow (his face was in the plughole!). Unfortunately, he'd locked the shower-room door so initially I couldn't get to him and prior to the ambulance arriving, had to get the fire-brigade to break the lock (I tried and couldn't do it). It was awful, and I could do nothing - I did start to worry that I might lose him and ultimately called the ambulance service again after 4 hours had passed in desperation and told them that I thought the stress was going to kill him - he was by this time in a state of distress.

I'm so sorry to hear that, Dickens and hope he is recovering now. The shock of it all may stay with him for longer than it will take to mend broken ribs.

A similar story with a friend of ours in his 80s, he needs another new hip and fell at home, causing profuse bleeding as he's on blood thinners. The advice if this happens is: get yourself to A&E immediately. He managed to phone for an ambulance and also his step-daughter. She tried to stem the bleeding, just as well because it was 5 hours before the ambulance arrived. He then spent another 12 hours in the ambulance outside A&E. Luckily he survived.
I had to visit A&E this week - there must have been a dozen ambulances outside, whether with patients waiting to be admitted or waiting to be called out, I don't know.

I saw this coming as soon as the Tories were in power. Although they claim otherwise, they would get rid of the NHS if they could get away with it but at the moment they couldn’t. They deliberately underfund to stop it working as well as it could. That way, gradually people will lose faith in the NHS and are more likely to back privatisation. Wake up people, don’t vote Tory if you value our wonderful NHS as much as I do.

growstuff

Apparently, the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has the worst ambulance waiting times in England (sorry, don't know about Wales)

That's the one that covers my area- Gloucestershire. When I called, I was warned it could take many hours. They wouldn't speculate, but the crew said 5 hours was relatively normal for falls. If I hadn't called after 4 hours by which time my partner was in considerable distress, they said it would have probably been an even longer wait than 5 hours. They did emphasise that I'd done the right thing - his blood pressure was so high when they monitored him, and his pulse erratic. It was a truly frightening experience, and I now follow him around the house like a ghost, watching his every move.

It's Labour here in Wales, but of course funds come from Westminster.

Kate1949

I didn't realise you could get a private am ambulance lemsip. I'm being a bit dim! Yes good luck to her indeed.

re your comment about Gloria Hunniford getting an ambulance in ten mins!

well I presume private hospitals have there own ambulances they couldn't use the nhs ones could they!

That's the one that covers my area- Gloucestershire. When I called, I was warned it could take many hours
I was advised to go to Gloucester or even Southmead instead but they would probably have sent me back over the border!

I always thought that emergencies had to go through the nhs system, as private hospitals aren't equipped to deal with them in the same way?
No idea if I've made that up in my own head, though.

re your comment about Gloria Hunniford getting an ambulance in ten mins!

It could have been the name and possible publicity.
Do private hospitals take emergencies?

Ouch, that did sound painful, poor woman.

Callistemon21

growstuff

Wales seems to record the statistics slightly differently, but I can't see there's a significant difference between England and Wales. Some English regions appear to be worse than the Welsh average.

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/welsh-nhs-described-broken-waiting-23742320

Wales seems to record the statistics slightly differently

The figures seem astonishingly good compared to my admittedly anecdotal evidence.

Am still looking at them, but I need some lunch.

I don't know if want to as it's all so depressing ?

lemsip

Kate1949

I didn't realise you could get a private am ambulance lemsip. I'm being a bit dim! Yes good luck to her indeed.

re your comment about Gloria Hunniford getting an ambulance in ten mins!

well I presume private hospitals have there own ambulances they couldn't use the nhs ones could they!

How do you know that Gloria Hunniford was taken to a private hospital?

I must admit that I don't know any private hospitals with A & E departments.

Ooops! Just seen that Callistemon and MissAdventure have posted the same query.

Callistemon21

^re your comment about Gloria Hunniford getting an ambulance in ten mins!^

It could have been the name and possible publicity.
Do private hospitals take emergencies?

Ouch, that did sound painful, poor woman.

Or maybe just 82 year old woman, head injury and luck of the draw.

I had an aunt who used a private ambulance to travel from London to this area, but it wasn't the blue light, emergency type of journey.
More like up market patient transport type of thing.

In fact, the "crew" were worried that she was too ill for them to take her.

privateambulanceuk.co.uk/

Private ambulances are used mainly for medical repatriation, to cover events and for discharges from hospital.

Callistemon21

It's Labour here in Wales, but of course funds come from Westminster.

Methinks you’re being disingenuous Casdon.

Of course it’s Labour in Wales and has been for decades and importantly, they get to decide how the pot is spent.

Which is why we all have free scripts ( yes for paracetamol) and free parking at all hospitals and waiting lists for hip ops in north Wales of 3 years in 2019 - Lord only knows how long it is now but of course they can now blame Brexit and Covid!

Anecdotally, my father waited 20 minutes in 1995 for an ambulance, my stepmother waited 90 minutes in 2012.

In April my aunt had to be taken to A&E in Bangor by my cousin as she was told it would be 6 hours for an ambulance and she wasn’t a priority although she was losing blood from the rectum ( she died 10 days later)

I’ll say it again, if the Tories can be blamed for English nhs debacles, then Labour in Wales can be held to the same yardstick.

It is a sad fact but you would be more likely to get an ambulance within 10 minutes if your name was Gloria Hunniford for Boris J as opposed to Jane or John Doe.

The 4 hour wait of a celebrity would make front page news whereas Jane or John Doe would rarely make the headlines.

A private ambulance would be unlikely to pick up a casualty and take to an NHS hospital; private hospitals do not take emergencies.

Methinks you’re being disingenuous Casdon
It was me, not Casdon!
I can't let her take the rap