The wife of a dedicated paramedic who died of Covid has hit out at a patient transport operator after she was denied assistance to get her to a hospital appointment. Julie Goodwin was diagnosed with a rare and potentially life-threatening illness and says she will not be able to make her appointment at the Queen's Medical Centre without help.
Julie Goodwin spoke to Nottinghamshire Live back in April 2020 after her husband, Charlie, died from Covid at the age of 61. He had been a "totally dedicated" paramedic for many decades.
Mrs Goodwin, who doesn't drive, has now revealed she was diagnosed with a dural arteriovenous fistula, a rare and potentially devastating vascular lesion, back in 2016. Her husband had been taking her to hospital appointments before his death.
Read more: The faces of people we've lost to Covid
She says she had a consultation on March 2 where she was informed the condition, which is an abnormal connection between the veins and arteries in the brain, has made a resurgence recently having been treated for it before. They are treated through a procedure known as embolisation, which is used to stop the blood flow to a certain part of the body by blocking a small artery or vein.
If left untreated the fistula may lead to fatal bleeding on the brain. Mrs Goodwin says she was told her appointment on April 25 is to take place at the Queen's Medical Centre, 17 miles away from her home in Bilsthorpe. The route typically takes 40 minutes to drive.
As a result she contacted ERS Medical, a patient transport operator which runs services to the QMC, to request assistance. ERS Medical, however, says she is not eligible.
"It has just about finished me off," she said. "I've never asked before. My husband worked for the NHS for 30 years, surely they can do something to give back now?"
"Charlie has died and he used to take me to the hospital appointments. I've got to be at the QMC at 8am.
"They told me I was capable of getting public transport. The first bus into Nottingham is at 10.20am. I am entitled to that transport. I'm on a ticking time-bomb. I've got to get there. I can't see why they cannot take me."
Mrs Goodwin explained she cannot afford the high costs of taxis into the city, while public transport does not run early enough to get her to the QMC for 8am. She says she has been left anxious over trying to find a way to get to the hospital in time for her appointment.
Nottinghamshire Live contacted ERS Medical for an explanation. A spokeswoman said: “We are bound by an eligibility criteria in our patient transport contracts.
"Whilst we cannot comment on an individual case until we investigate the matter further, we are sorry to hear of Mrs Goodwin not being able to get transport to her appointment. However, we are speaking with NUH to understand this particular request and look into it further."
