Despite residing just yards from a hospital, an elderly cancer patient was compelled to wait for an ambulance for seven hours in the rain.
Keith Royles, 85, shattered his hip while cutting his grass and had to wait for an ambulance in a north-east Welsh community.
His family claimed that Mr Royles’ residence in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, was right across the street from their local hospital, yet paramedics did not arrive.
Mr Royles was forced to lay in the rain on his patio for seven hours as his family attempted to keep him dry by constructing a cover over him.
He resides directly across the street from the big Ysbyty Glan Clwyd Hospital, which serves his area in North Wales.
When paramedics arrived, they were advised to transport Mr Royles to another hospital in Bangor, more than 30 miles away, since the one near his house was ‘too busy.’
Tina stated that the family was successful in fighting for her dad, who has terminal cancer, to be transported over the road from his house.
As a family, they’re not criticizing the employees, but the system is a failure, she stated.
They are extremely sorry about Mr. Royles’ experience, which was undoubtedly an unpleasant and worrisome wait for all concerned, said Lee Brooks, Executive Director of Operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service. The single largest reason they can’t get to some patients promptly is hospital handover delays. A system-wide effort will be required to remedy a system-wide issue.
A report issued in August by Health Inspectorate Wales highlighted ‘risks to patients’ and ‘significant concerns’ at the hospital’s A&E department.
The study is being taken ‘very seriously,’ according to Angela Wood, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
They’ve recruited an improvement director who is assisting and working with the employees on the ground to determine what the challenges were, what the hurdles were to giving the best care they could, and then putting measures in place to help encourage them, she added.
This comes as ambulance workers in England and Wales declared today that they will go on strike for the Christmas holiday.
More than 10,000 ambulance employees will strike on December 21 and 28, with paramedics, emergency care assistants, call takers, and other professionals taking part in the continuing salary conflict.
Unions Unite and Unison have both announced that their ambulance workers will strike on December 21, fearing that the NHS may come to a halt in the run-up to Christmas.
There are also concerns that the NHS may have its worst winter ever as it deals with ambulance delays, bed shortages, A&E congestion, and a chronic staffing deficit.
