Great-grandmother's agonising ambulance wait

Answers are being demanded after an Oban woman's  hour-and-a half agonising wait for an ambulance.

 

The family of 67-year-old Ann Ferguson want to know why the Dunbeg great-grandmother was left to lie for such a long time after falling and shattering her knee so badly it needed major surgery.

 

Oban councillor Julie MacKenzie is also calling for explanations into why help did not arrive more quickly despite multiple calls for an ambulance, as well as a request for emergency pain relief from Connel Medical Practice where Mrs Ferguson is a registered patient.

 

A long road to recovery lies ahead for Mrs Ferguson who is still in the Royal Alexandra Hospital and will have to be fitted with an adjustable metal splint.

 

'For someone who never sat still for two minutes before this happened, this is just torture. I knew as soon as I hit the ground that it was bad. My knee just crumbled on impact. The pain was and still is excruciating,' said Mrs Ferguson, who was on her way home from work at a patisserie in town when she fell on Wednesday February 23.

 

'I was yelling out in pain. Lots of people were quick to try and help - but not the ambulance. It is just a horrific, painful blur. I wouldn't wish that wait on anyone,' she said.

 

Passers-by brought out blankets, a duvet and hot water bottles to try and keep her warm while waiting for an ambulance. One man dug a small ditch to try and channel rainwater away from her.

 

A  call to Connel Medical Practice to get pain relief for her was refused by the surgery, says Mrs Ferguson's family, and it took about one hour and 15 minutes for the first ambulance, coming from Glen Coe, to arrive at the scene. Morphine was given but the lone medic could not move Mrs Ferguson until a second ambulance arrived. According to a family member at the scene, that ambulance had to come from Fort William and took another 25 minutes.

 

Mrs Ferguson's great grandsons, aged six and 10, were distraught after coming upon the commotion as they walked home from school, said their mum Karina MacPherson.

 

Councillor MacKenzie said: 'For Ann to wait such a length of time for an emergency response while suffering from shock and excruciating pain is totally unacceptable. This simply shouldn’t have happened in our community. Ann deserves urgent answers and a full apology.

 

Councillor Mackenzie has written to  Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership and is also asking the council to find out who owns the footpath.

 

A spokesperson from Taynuilt Medical Practice, said: 'The concerns raised are being investigated through our complaints procedure and we will provide a full response.'

 

Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has apologised to Mrs Ferguson and to another patient who experienced a long wait after suffering a head injury in Oban on Saturday February 26.

 

'We would like to sincerely apologise to both patients for the delay in responding. Both calls unfortunately came in during periods of significant pressure and demand on our services.

 

'In the first incident, on February 23, we received a call at 1604 hours. At the time, all our crews in the area were already on emergency calls. Our first ambulance resource arrived at 1721 hours and the patient was transferred to hospital shortly after. The patient’s condition was monitored throughout to ensure her condition did not change.

 

'We have recently taken steps to increase our capacity in the Oban area; this includes converting our on-call vehicle to a 24-hour live vehicle and successfully recruiting eight additional staff in the past 12 months.'