Staff at the hospital where an elderly woman died in an ambulance due to long queues say it is like a 'warzone'. Last month, the MEN reported that a woman sadly passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest outside Fairfield General Hospital three hours after the ambulance had arrived with her inside.
The elderly patient died in the back of the ambulance Greater as there were no beds available inside, according to NHS sources.
Since the tragedy, staff members say ambulance queues have not improved. One frustrated paramedic, sitting in a long line of stationary ambulances told them: “It’s like a war zone in there at the moment.”
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The Mirror reports that at one point this week, they saw 15 emergency vehicles queuing outside Fairfield General Hospital in Bury. The paramedic added: “There is just no more capacity. We can’t offload our patients.
“They won’t accept our patients because there is no one there to look after them. When you ring 999 and wonder why the ambulance is taking two hours to get to you, it is because they are all here. They are all tied up outside A&E.
“It needs somebody to come up with some sort of plan.” The first responder had been waiting in line outside A&E for an hour and a half when the Mirror arrived on Monday afternoon.
The Mirror was told that some ambulances had been waiting for almost six hours with patients.
Dr Chris Brookes, deputy chief executive and chief medical officer of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Fairfield General Hospital, said the situation was “challenging”.
He said: “Like many NHS organisations around the country, our hospitals continue to experience particularly high demand. We are working together with our colleagues across Greater Manchester to respond and ensure that we provide the best possible care for our patients.
“The situation remains challenging, but we are working with North West Ambulance Service to ensure people are handed over as quickly and as safely as possible. Anyone requiring medical attention is reminded only to call for an ambulance if someone is seriously ill or injured or their life is at risk.”
He said people with urgent but not life-threatening illnesses or injuries, should use NHS 111 first, online or via phone, who will direct them to the most appropriate local service. Last month an OAP died in an ambulance after being taken to Fairfield with a serious chest infection.
She was examined by doctors and given antibiotic treatment in the back of the vehicle. But three hours after arriving at the hospital on October 18, she suffered a cardiac arrest and died in the ambulance.
Dr Brookes apologised at the time and said: “While this investigation is at a very early stage, we know that the patient was triaged, examined and treated by doctors from the Emergency Department while in the ambulance due to there being no available beds.”
A paramedic said later: “It’s not right, it’s just insane. Every hospital is holding ambulances outside.
“I’ve had occasions where I’ve taken over from the night shift and the patient hasn’t made it through the door. They’ve been in the ambulance for eight hours, treated there and sent back home. Every hospital is really struggling to get patients through the door. Some hospitals will treat us as another ward.”
North West Ambulance Service apologised after last month’s incident at Fairfield and said it would investigate.
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