By Sam Hawcroft
An elderly woman who fell in the centre of Withernsea was forced to lie on the street for nearly five hours before an ambulance arrived.
It is believed the woman was walking in Queen Street at about 3pm on Monday, September 2, when she tripped over a dog and fell, breaking her hip.
Several members of the public came to her aid and stayed with her, providing blankets and then umbrellas when the rain began to fall, but it was not until nearly 8pm that an ambulance arrived to take the woman to Hull Royal Infirmary.
After the Gazette got in touch with Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart, he contacted Peter Reading, the chief executive of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, who said the trust was looking into the incident as a matter of urgency.
Mr Stuart said: “If the lady needs anything at all, she or her family can get in touch with me at any time.”
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust later issued a statement apologising for the long delay in sending an ambulance and said people in life-threatening situations had to take priority during periods of high demand.
A spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear about the concerns raised in relation to the delayed ambulance response to a patient who had collapsed on Queen Street, Withernsea, on Monday afternoon. We would like to apologise to this lady for not being able to get to her sooner and hope that she is making a good recovery.
“A local MP has raised concerns directly with the trust and we are looking into the specific details relating to this incident so that we can better understand exactly what happened.
“While we do our best to respond as quickly as possible to all emergencies, we acknowledge that during periods of high demand and challenging system pressures there are some patients who have to wait longer for an ambulance response as we prioritise those with a life-threatening condition.”
South East Holderness councillor Jon Dimberline said: “I can confirm that I think I may have seen this incident around teatime on Monday, but wasn’t really sure what was going on as I passed.
“If it was a person on the floor they seemed well attended by a group of people. To think she had been there since 3pm is abhorrent.
“The problem can only lie with the ambulance service and lack of availability to respond any quicker. Withernsea Community Hospital is a whole other issue on its own.
“The question is, why does it take so long for an ambulance to arrive? My thinking is they are too busy dealing with drunks or drug abusers; there is slow to zero processing of triage at A&E, so ambulances are stacking and having to hold patients in vehicles; insufficient staff for handing over patients in A&E – the list goes on.
“There were possibly slight delays due to the blocked road, but the ambulance station is on the casualty’s side of town.
“I will speak with the other councillors and discuss to gauge their feelings.
“I often think if we had a country that didn’t waste such vast amounts of money, we could be such a wealthy nation. There would be more police around and more ambulances with paramedics on board.
“As we are, we are a poor nation with limited resources and we should never have ended up in this position, but we are where we are. I hope the lady is OK.”
