A Scottish stroke victim had to be bundled into a car by her family after being told there was no ambulance to take her to hospital.
Great-gran Moira Buchanan, 89, should have been rushed to hospital within minutes after her family made a 999 call, according to health service targets for stroke victims.
But when Moira’s family made the emergency call, they were told there were no ambulances available in the Glasgow area.
The 999 operator said the family’s best option was to carry her into a car and dash to hospital themselves. Last night, Labour said Moira’s case highlighted the ongoing crisis in Scotland’s NHS and warned that lives were being put at risk.
Moira’s son Alan, 49, said the family phoned 999 when it was obvious Moira was having a stroke. He said: “The control said the area was really busy and they couldn’t get her an ambulance.
“My sister told them it was a code red category. She knows the jargon because her partner used to be an ambulance technician.
“She said, ‘What do you want me to do, do you want me to put her in the car and drive her to hospital myself?’ and she was told it would get her there faster.”
Alan wasn’t at the house at that time so his brother Tom, sister, also Moira, and her partner had to lift Moira snr into a family car despite her suffering severe stroke symptoms. They then drove from their home in Crookston to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Alan said: “Moira called her partner to come along and help her and Tom get our mum into the car. But it took all three of them to manoeuvre her into the car as her leg had gone straight and stiff as a result of the stroke.
“My sister got in the back and tried to keep her upright as they made the dash to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.”
When they arrived, an ambulance crew who had been waiting at the hospital with a patient raced to help and got her into A&E, where she was seen immediately on December 11.
Alan added: “It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened if we didn’t have a car or if just one person had been with her. One person would not have been able to get her into the car. The next person this happens to might not be so lucky.”
The family refused to point the finger at hard-pressed NHS staff, with Alan telling the Record: “I am not blaming the NHS but the Scottish Government and the Health Secretary Humza Yousaf have not been able to carry out the job properly.
“I know this is not a one-off because I know of others this has happened to.Sometimes when I go to visit mum, I pass by the hospital and see ambulances queued up outside. One day I counted 14 of them with ambulance crews waiting to discharge patients.”
Moira is recovering in hospital but has lost her speech and movement down her left side. The family are devastated at the thought of what might have happened – particularly after losing their dad, Tom, 92, in June from a bleed on the brain following a fall at home.
Alan said: “People cannot rely on the ambulance service just now. I don’t blame people working there but the service has been strangled over the years and has just not been given the back up.”
In stroke cases, getting patients to hospital for treatment as quickly as possible can have a significant impact on their recovery and could mean the difference between life and death.
The ambulance service categorise stroke victims as an amber code which means a crew should arrive at their door within 19 minutes.
In severe cases, the patients will be upgraded to a code red, which means paramedics should arrive within eight minutes.
Last night, Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This is really dangerous when we have family members of people who have suffered a stroke having to take them to hospital for urgent treatment.
“It doesn’t bear thinking about what might have happened if this woman’s son and daughter were not in the house at the time. The SNP government have let our health service fall into disarray.
“They have been in charge for the last 15 years and they are presiding over a growing crisis that is putting people’s lives at risk.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to the patient and her family for any distress caused.
“Unfortunately, at the time of the call we were experiencing significant pressure and demand on our services due to lengthy hospital turnaround times which were restricting our ability to get our crews back out responding to patients. We hope she is recovering well.”
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