A Warminster pensioner is waiting for an explanation about why she had to wait more than 45 minutes for an ambulance when she blacked out after a fall.
Beverly Jenkins, 73, caught her shoe on the pavement outside the Bath Arms earlier this month and fell face-first into the road, knocking herself out briefly and sustaining painful cuts and bruises.
She was helped up by a passing Kingdown School student, and a woman in a mobility scooter gave up her seat for Mrs Jenkins, a charity worker, to sit down while they waited.
However, she said the ambulance took more than 45 minutes to arrive, and when it did the crew claimed they had only come from Station Road, and were not allowed to leave during their lunch break.
“I don’t blame the crew, they were only following their instructions, but what is the point of having an ambulance and a rapid response vehicle if you have to wait so long,” she said.
“I wasn’t seriously injured but they had no way of knowing that, at the hospital they thought it was serious enough for head x-rays, and I needed stitches on a cut by my eye.
“I was just embarrassed the kind people had to wait around, but when I think it could have been my daughter in my position I am furious.”
Mrs Jenkins has since recovered from her injuries, but her daughter Sam Mowat, who lives in London, has contacted Great Western Ambulance for an explanation over the delay.
She said: “If mum had just had a twisted ankle I would understand but she fell face-down in the road and had some really bad cuts and bruises. It could have been a lot worse. Now we are just waiting to hear from them about what happened.”
She also contacted local MP Andrew Murrison, who confirmed he was waiting for a report from the service on the incident. He added that in his experience ambulance crews always put patients’ needs before their own comfort.
Great Western Ambulance spokesman John Oliver said: “The investigation into this incident is continuing and we will inform the patient, her family and Dr Murrison of the results.
“The ambulance took 38 minutes and 35 seconds to reach the patient, the expected standard is 30 minutes.
“It wasn’t classed as a category A call which requires an eight-minute response.”
Mr Oliver said that when 999 calls are made operators ask pre-set questions which are fed into a computer to determine the category of the call and urgency of the response.
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