AN elderly woman endured an agonising wait of more than an hour and a half lying outside Glasgow’s flagship hospital in the rain waiting for treatment.
The woman, thought to be around 70, had been discharged from the GP assessment unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital when she had a fall yards from the entrance.
Members of the public and staff went to assist and tried to get help from A&E while another called an ambulance. However, they were told it could be four hours before an ambulance would attend and no-one from the hospital came for at least 90 minutes.
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One hospital worker said they arrived at 7.30pm on Monday and the woman was already on the ground with a blanket around her. The worker said it had gone 9pm by the time staff on duty came out to help and take her into the hospital.
The worker said: “She was lying in the gutter in the rain, soaked. Security had cordoned the area off and got blankets. “People had gone into the hospital for help and someone phoned for an ambulance. They were told it could take four hours. “The woman was in severe pain and very distressed.”
She said she was there for at least an hour and a half maybe two hours before an emergency team arrived. The worker said “It was only when a nurse off duty went back into the hospital and put in an emergency call that a team came out.
A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We would like to thank our staff for providing care and assistance to a patient who fell on the road outside the front entrance to the QEUH at approximately 8.00pm on Monday night.
“Our security staff were immediately alerted to the incident and gave assistance to the lady including providing protection from the wind and rain, and the traffic.
“They also called for an ambulance to attend but unfortunately the Scottish Ambulance Service was extremely busy that night and rather than wait clinical staff from the hospital were called to attend.
“Our clinical staff arranged for appropriate equipment to be available to assist the lady from the ground and she was taken back into the Emergency Department just after 9.00pm.
“She had previously been seen in the GP assessment unit and discharged.”
The woman’s current condition is not known. A spokesman for the Scottish ambulance Service, said “We were experiencing a high level of demand on that particular evening but would like to apologise for any unnecessary delays. “We would encourage this patient to get in touch so that we can investigate this matter.”
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