Care Opinion

Ambulance for my mother

Posted By Mums33

"Ambulance for my mother"

About: Northern Ireland Ambulance Service / Emergency ambulance response

(as a relative),

I have been waiting on an ambulance from approximately 1-2 pm. The ambulance is for my mum, who is in her 90s and suspected of having a fractured hip. The ambulance was ordered by her GP as my mum can't really weight bear and is in a lot of pain.( She's also an insulin dependant diabetic and has Alzheimer's)

At 6pm I had a call from a very respectful call handler who asked me some questions about my mum, I then was asked to check her ankles, colour, if they were swollen or cold to the touch. They upgraded her waiting time from 4 hours (we had at this point exceeded 4hrs) until 1 hour but would probably be more of a wait. 

I absolutely understand the pressure the ambulance service is under but this is an absolute disgrace to leave a very elderly, confused lady waiting this long. She requires the ambulance as it is impossible for me to get her to my car and hospital.

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Responses

Response from Maggie Hamilton, Experience & Involvement Facilitator, Quality, Safety & Improvement, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service last week
Maggie Hamilton
Experience & Involvement Facilitator, Quality, Safety & Improvement,
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) Experience and Involvement Facilitator is responsible for developing and delivering high quality, effective services and processes for NIAS Service Users, Carers, their Advocates, the Public and NIAS Staff across Northern Ireland (NI) to facilitate and enable them to fully contribute to and participate in experience and involvement in relation to the NIAS.

Submitted on 20/09/2024 at 15:00
Published on Care Opinion at 15:00

picture of Maggie Hamilton

Good afternoon Mums33,

I was truly sorry to read of your recent experience with NIAS. It is always our intention to provide the best service possible and as such is disappointing when our services fall below the expectations of our patients and their families. With regards to our response times please be assured that we are working closely with the Department of Health and the Strategic Planning and Performance Group to increase our available resources. We are also working with the local EDs to try to ensure that our patients can be handed over to hospital clinical teams as quickly as possible so that ambulance are able to respond to further emergencies. If you would like a member of our Service User Feedback Team to get in touch to progress your concern further, please provide your contact details or alternatively they can be contacted at complaints@nias.hscni.net or on 02890 400999.

Maggie.hamilton@nias.hscni.net

I wish your mum the best with her recuperation.

Kind regards,

Maggie

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