A chronically ill Dundee pensioner with a broken leg was forced to wait six hours for an ambulance while paramedics dealt with a “surge” in emergency calls caused by celebrating football fans.
Kathleen McKay (74) sustained the break at her sheltered housing home on Saturday but an “unusually high” demand linked to Dundee United’s Scottish Cup victory meant an agonising wait for medical attention.
An out-of hours doctor examined Mrs McKay, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, at 9pm and then ordered an ambulance.
But it didn’t arrive at her Linlathen home until 3am with Mrs McKay eventually being seen at Ninewells Hospital just after 4am.
Mrs McKay’s daughter Sandra Burke was with her during the long wait and expressed her shock and anger at the situation.
She said, “I think NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service got their priorities all wrong.
“I told them that mum was already in chronic ill-health with COPD and that she had just been discharged from hospital on Monday after a life-threatening bout of pneumonia.
“She was breathless, had considerable pain in her leg, was unable to get to the bathroom and became more exhausted as the night went on.”
Mrs McKay fell late on Saturday morning and was initially attended to by Dundee City Council’s community alarm emergency team.
But the district nurse became concerned about swelling and bruising and called NHS 24 around 8pm, when a suspected broken leg was diagnosed.ComplaintMrs Burke, a company director, said, “I understand that other incidents happen but if mum had fallen and broken her leg in the street they would have attended immediately.
“Why, just because she is housebound, did they think it acceptable for her to suffer in this way? The government keeps talking about the importance of care in the community but what standard of care is this?”
She added, “The paramedics were wonderful when they got there but we are really shocked by what happened to mum.
“A six-hour wait for an ambulance by a chronically ill elderly lady with a broken leg is a complete disgrace and we will be making a formal complaint.”
It is thought that Mrs McKay will be in plaster for eight to 10 weeks.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman blamed the wait on an “unusually high” demand in emergency calls in Dundee on Saturday night due to the Scottish Cup celebrations.
He said, “We appreciate that Mrs McKay was in some considerable discomfort but we had to attend to a very, very high number of emergencies.
“If we had not had to attend to that unusual surge in demand we would have arrived within the four-hour period.”