So I put this in TIAM yesterday, but I would like to describe the events yesterday in more detail.
So my dad is 71 and has had a bad form of arthritis that has been eating away at his skeleton for years. He has had 2 hip replacements, a shoulder and the latest was a knee replacement last Easter.
Yesterday he was putting up a curtain pole, when it slipped and fell on him knocking him off the small steps he was on. He fell in a crumpled heap, bashing his head open and in extreme pain unable to get up or support himself without mums help.
Mum phoned for the Ambulance at about 9.45, saying they suspected he had broken his hip as he couldn't walk or lift his leg. They said they were really busy and because it was a non-emergency (really?
) they would get there as soon as they could, but it could be up to 2 hours.
At this point we would have taken him in the car, but he said he was unable to walk, let alone get in and out of the car, hence the need for an ambulance.
So they got him onto a dining room chair and he sat waiting. At 12 they rang again, only to be told the same thing, that they were busy etc. At 2pm, still no ambulance and another phone call, when they upgraded the call to 'priority'
At 4.30 my mum rings 999 again, understandably very upset and finally the ambulance arrived at 4.45.....7 hours after the fall! With the poor guy sat in extreme pain all day in a high backed chair.
He is then taken to the local A&E, and unfortunately as we all know they are over stretched, it was another 3.5 hr wait before he had his X-Rays. It turns out nothing was broken, thankfully, but he has torn all the muscles around his hip joints and in his groin. So they discharged him last night, with him still saying he was unable to walk, sit/stand. So they gave him some crutches and said he would have to be picked up.
I have seen this guy cut his finger off, go through multiple joint replacements and all the physio....I have never seen him yelp like he did last night when i picked him up and had to get him in and out of my car
Now we are generally not people who make a fuss about things, but this does seem unacceptable, how can an elderly person having a fall and a suspected broken hip be classed a non-emergency and left 7 hours before the ambulance arrives. Is it worth making a complaint? Who would I complain to?
So my dad is 71 and has had a bad form of arthritis that has been eating away at his skeleton for years. He has had 2 hip replacements, a shoulder and the latest was a knee replacement last Easter.
Yesterday he was putting up a curtain pole, when it slipped and fell on him knocking him off the small steps he was on. He fell in a crumpled heap, bashing his head open and in extreme pain unable to get up or support himself without mums help.
Mum phoned for the Ambulance at about 9.45, saying they suspected he had broken his hip as he couldn't walk or lift his leg. They said they were really busy and because it was a non-emergency (really?
) they would get there as soon as they could, but it could be up to 2 hours.At this point we would have taken him in the car, but he said he was unable to walk, let alone get in and out of the car, hence the need for an ambulance.
So they got him onto a dining room chair and he sat waiting. At 12 they rang again, only to be told the same thing, that they were busy etc. At 2pm, still no ambulance and another phone call, when they upgraded the call to 'priority'
At 4.30 my mum rings 999 again, understandably very upset and finally the ambulance arrived at 4.45.....7 hours after the fall! With the poor guy sat in extreme pain all day in a high backed chair.
He is then taken to the local A&E, and unfortunately as we all know they are over stretched, it was another 3.5 hr wait before he had his X-Rays. It turns out nothing was broken, thankfully, but he has torn all the muscles around his hip joints and in his groin. So they discharged him last night, with him still saying he was unable to walk, sit/stand. So they gave him some crutches and said he would have to be picked up.
I have seen this guy cut his finger off, go through multiple joint replacements and all the physio....I have never seen him yelp like he did last night when i picked him up and had to get him in and out of my car
Now we are generally not people who make a fuss about things, but this does seem unacceptable, how can an elderly person having a fall and a suspected broken hip be classed a non-emergency and left 7 hours before the ambulance arrives. Is it worth making a complaint? Who would I complain to?
