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

This is just too much to hear?
A friend told us of someone last week in his village who had a stroke rung 999 and no ambulance. 3 hours later it arrived obviously by then it was too late!!

another case is a neighbour who after arriving at the Hospital in an ambulance at 4pm joined a queue of several other ambulances and waited 9hours till 1am to be admitted,,,,changing ambulance at one point because the crews shift was over.... he was scanned and xrayed in the ambulance though which I didn't know could be done.

Oh Dear
I've just spotted my very silly mistake in OP

# ....The man had a Fall NOT a Fool. silly me. I reported and asked for correction!

I was listening to Gloria Hunniford the other day. She recently had a bad fall. She said the ambulance arrived within 10 minutes. Lucky her.

There aren't enough ambulances or staff to service the growing UK population.

I am so scared of one of my family falling seriously ill at the moment lemsip with what’s going on with the ambulance chaos. They are stuck in queues outside hospitals it must be so frustrating for the crews who want to help their patients and get back on the roads.

There was a similar case in Bath but the elderly gentleman had a fall outside. It took 4 hours before the ambulance got there. A member of the family was there but was told not to move him because of the risk of further injury. As it was he sadly died probably unnecessarily.

Apparently there are often queues of ambulances outside the RUH and other hospitals no doubt, and until they can get their patients admitted, the ambulance is not free to attend others who’ve dialled 999. So it’s not so much there aren’t enough ambulances but that hospitals cannot cope, either not enough medical staff and/or not enough beds.

Shandy57

There aren't enough ambulances or staff to service the growing UK population.

Not so much short of ambulances or paramedics but the hours they wait at hospitals waiting for patients to be taken over and admitted
Ambulances can spend a whole shift waiting outside the hospital which is such a waste of resources

My mother broke her hip in 2015. We waited 9 hours for the ambulance to come and then waited outside A&E for 5 hours. This is not a new thing.

well of course gloria hunniford is in a different situation and able to go private,, good luck to her! She was at her sons house and tripped on a rug which she wasn't used too. broke a bone in her eye socket.

dragonfly46

My mother broke her hip in 2015. We waited 9 hours for the ambulance to come and then waited outside A&E for 5 hours. This is not a new thing.

That doesn't make it right or in any way acceptable

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

In 2008 if you look at the data, ambulance times averaged 8 minutes!

I thought private ambulances recovered dead bodies from peoples houses

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

digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/ambulance-services/ambulance-services-england-2009-10
We were looking for the same data obviously Whitewavemark2. This is the dataset for the last year of the Labour government.

19 minutes is a lot quicker than 9 hours

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.

People aren't able to see their gps for issues that need dealing with, or need prompt attention.
So, they either decide, or are told to call an ambulance if it's "that bad".

I needed a doctors appointment a few weeks ago, and when asked if it was urgent, said not particularly, but I do want to see a doctor at some point.
An appointment was made for a doctor to phone me on a Saturday.

I didn't realise this was an on call doctor, not my gp.

As soon as I started to tell him my problems, I got a very rude telling off and told to get someone to take me to a and e.
(I didnt, so a wasted appointment)

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.

It’s about averages rather than individual cases though?

I also recently spent the night in an ambulance outside A&E - along with 14 other ambulances in the same situation.

There were not enough beds, trolleys, doctors or nurses to process the arrivals.

Our local A&E is only nurse-led overnight - so everything has been shifted to the larger hospital 40 miles away, which obviously cannot cope.

The doctor I saw said that part of the problem is the number of staff who left to return home to their native countries after Brexit got "done". They cannot recruit nor train fast enough to replace them. It's not all down to Brexit - the Pandemic has also taken its toll, and contrary to what people seem to think, is still doing so.

But years of both government interference and neglect of the obvious mounting problems... the "do more with less" approach, has also had an effect.

Most certainly, not being able to see a GP (for many) has also contributed to the problem.

My partner had a fall recently - head first into the shower, trapped there with his ribcage crushed against the hard edge of the shower tray. We waited 5 hours for an ambulance, during which time he was unable to move and in a pretty bad way when the crew finally arrived. But he was lucky, just two broken ribs and some swelling of the abdomen and an inability to stand for about two weeks afterwards.

I don't believe the government cares one jot about our individual experiences, and its leader is focused on his own survival, so I don't expect the situation will improve any time soon.

It’s about averages rather than individual cases though?

The OP was about an individual case and the discussion continued that theme. Local circumstances very much skew people's views.

But I do recognise that averages matter.

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.

Yes, averages do matter. Here are some statistics for 2022 so far:

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/qualitywatch/nhs-performance-summary#ae-waiting-times

It's quite clear that average waiting times for ambulances have increased dramatically.