Man left in agony for eight hours

Feb 16 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

A SERIOUSLY-ILL man who had to wait eight hours for the hospital treatment he needed said yesterday he was failed by rural health care services

When Wesley White, 63, woke up in the early hours of the morning with severe stomach pains at his home in Bellingham, Northumberland, his wife Jan was quick to call NHS Direct for help and advice.

She made her first call at about 5.30am on Saturday, February 2, by which time her husband was already in agony, but it was 2pm that afternoon before he got to hospital.

Health service bosses last night insisted all targets were met.

But Mr White, of Reenes Way, who later had to have his appendix removed, said: “The time it took is just unbelievable and I am very angry. I am not a vindictive person, but I would like to see something like this happen to one of the people who make the stupid health service policies to make them see sense.

“My wife rang NHS Direct at 5.30am, but now I just wish I had dialled 999 straight away. If my appendix had burst I would have been a goner. In those situations, minutes can make a difference, let alone the hours I had to wait.

“They have cut rural ambulances and out-of-hours doctors and there is a chance that it could kill somebody.”

Mr White described the pain he was left in as agonising, and added that the ordeal had been just as bad for his wife.

After Mrs White called NHS Direct, she spoke to an out-of-hours doctor, who had to travel from Gosforth, Newcastle, and did not arrive until 9.45am. Mr White added: “The thing is that none of the professionals involved are at fault – it is the system and the policies that are wrong.

“It needs at least a local on-call doctor and possibly an ambulance, which we no longer have, to stop this happening again.”

After assessing Mr White, the doctor called for an ambulance, which arrived from Wideopen, North Tyneside, about 35 miles away, at about 12.15pm.

But because that ambulance was manned by an urgent care crew, they were unable to administer morphine, and so a further ambulance and paramedic had to be called, arriving at 12.30pm.

By that point Mr White was in too much pain to be transported to hospital by road, and the Cumbrian air ambulance was called, delivering the patient to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle at 2pm.

Mr White, who had his appendix removed the following Tuesday and is now at home recovering, said: “The service is totally inadequate. Having an ambulance or an on-call doctor here would have made all the difference.

“I just want this to be put into the public domain for the sake of other people who might not make it, thanks to these stupid policies.”

His neighbour Jim Brownbridge, 76, said: “It is absolutely ridiculous. The local NHS is supposed to be hard up yet the cost of the services on that day must have been massive. It could have been avoided.

“If Bellingham still had an ambulance and doctors in surgeries out of hours, he would have been taken far earlier in the day.”

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Timeline

3am, Saturday, February 2 Mr White wakes up with severe stomach pains.

5.30am Mrs White calls NHS Direct explaining that her husband is seriously ill and needs a doctor. She calls again at 7.30am and 9am.

9.45am Doctor arrives at their home from Gosforth and decides Mr White needs an ambulance.

12.15pm First ambulance arrives, but is unable to administer morphine so second ambulance is sent for.

12.30pm Second ambulance arrives, but Mr White is deemed too ill to travel by road and so Cumbria air ambulance is called.

2pm Mr White arrives at the RVI in Newcastle in the air ambulance.

Following a number of scans and tests, Mr White has his appendix removed at 12.30pm on Tuesday.

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Out-of-hours cover delegated

FAMILY doctors were able to opt out of providing out-of-hours care and hand the responsibility over to primary care trusts after the Government brought in a new contract in 2004.

In Northumberland, all 53 GP practices opted to delegate out-of-hours responsibility to Northumberland Care Trust, which commissions the service from Northern Doctors Urgent Care.

This provides out-of-hours care from its Gosforth base between 6.30pm and 8am on weekdays and from 6.30pm on Fridays to 8am on Mondays.

Bellingham lost its ambulance in 2006 under plans by the North East Ambulance Service to close remote stations. Seven stations lost ambulances, which were replaced by community paramedics to provide round-the-clock cover and call for an ambulance to take seriously-ill patients to hospital.

More than 900 Bellingham residents signed a petition against the change. Many feared a single paramedic would not be able to provide adequate cover and were also concerned waiting times for ambulances would increase.