A Fife man was forced to crawl on his hands and knees in “crucifying” pain to seek help after being refused an ambulance five times.
John Dougall, 36, who lives on his own at Williamsons Quay in Kirkcaldy, collapsed on his living-room floor in the early hours three weeks ago with acute burning pains in his stomach.
Still conscious but in agony, Mr Dougall was able to reach his mobile phone and called 999 but was told his symptoms were “not severe” enough to warrant an ambulance being sent out.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I went through all my symptoms and told them I was in severe pain, but they just said my symptoms weren’t severe enough to require emergency treatment and to take some painkillers.
“Someone from NHS 24 phoned back an hour later and I told them I was in even more pain but they still refused. They kept asking me if I had been drinking. I said no and that I knew I needed to get to hospital but was not fit to drive myself.
“By this point I was getting quite angry and remember telling them it was ridiculous.”
Mr Dougall, a former international swimmer, was forced to then crawl out of his flat and up the stairwell to beg his neighbours for help.
“Thankfully, they were coming out their door on their way to work and alerted my other neighbours to come and help,” he added.
Both sets of horrified neighbours tried ringing 999 and the police but received the same response as Mr Dougall.
“In total, I was refused an ambulance five times and had to endure the embarrassment of being carried out of my flat by my neighbours who then kindly drove me to the hospital.
“I was in so much agony, it was crucifying. Once I got there, a paramedic standing outside saw me and ensured I was seen straight away.
“I was admitted there and then and told I was ‘heavily septic’ which meant I had blood poisoning. I was also diagnosed with a perforated bowel which required immediate treatment.”
Mr Dougall, who coaches the Fife Performance Swim Squad, said he believes he could have died had his neighbours not taken him to hospital when they did.
“The whole experience is still very raw and I’m still in pain and have lost three stones in a month through stress.”
In an attempt to help him overcome his trauma, Mr Dougall has enlisted the help of a psychologist.
“Nobody should have to beg for an ambulance when they are in severe pain and nobody should have to go through what I went through,” he said. “I have now made a formal complaint to the Scottish Ambulance Service and I hope by speaking out and having this investigated, this will never happen to anyone ever again.
“I would like to thank my neighbours for all their help and also the help of the doctors and nurses at Victoria Hospital who looked after me after I was finally admitted.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said 999 calls are “clinically triaged” and are based upon the information provided by the caller.
“In this instance the patient’s described symptoms did not indicate the need for an emergency ambulance at that time. This was discussed with a neighbour who called and also agreed with the police.
“We have received a complaint about this matter and will be contacting the patient to discuss the details directly with him.”
NHS Fife declined to comment on the specific incident but George Cunningham, director of acute services at NHS Fife, denied there was any shortage of supplies for the minor injuries service at Queen Margaret Hospital.