111 call firm told: improve (From Swindon Advertiser)

Last year my husband fell ill with, as we believed, gastroenteritis. Over the course of the week he got worse and despite phoning for medical assistance no one visited him. I couldnt lift him into the car because he was too heavy and after two weeks he was bed bound. One night in the early hours his forehead was swollen, his eyes sunken and he was pale. He'd lost a lot of weight and despite the prescribed over the phone drugs finally taking effect he wasnt conscious so in desperation I phoned for an ambulance. The fact that he was still breathing meant that they wouldnt come out. I supplied a sample of his stools while he was ill and the results came back to say he had suffered from campylobacter.
He'd lost three stone in two weeks and was poorly for around a month. His stomachs still not 100% recovered 12 mths on. So people who need the help dont get it and people who dont, do!! Work that one out!!

This is what happens when you employ a private profit driven company to run a vital public service. They try and run it as cheaply as possible to maximise their profit and just provide the minimum service to ensure payment. They dont care or go the extra mile, its all about profit.

gina948 wrote:
Last year my husband fell ill with, as we believed, gastroenteritis. Over the course of the week he got worse and despite phoning for medical assistance no one visited him. I couldnt lift him into the car because he was too heavy and after two weeks he was bed bound. One night in the early hours his forehead was swollen, his eyes sunken and he was pale. He'd lost a lot of weight and despite the prescribed over the phone drugs finally taking effect he wasnt conscious so in desperation I phoned for an ambulance. The fact that he was still breathing meant that they wouldnt come out. I supplied a sample of his stools while he was ill and the results came back to say he had suffered from campylobacter.
He'd lost three stone in two weeks and was poorly for around a month. His stomachs still not 100% recovered 12 mths on. So people who need the help dont get it and people who dont, do!! Work that one out!!

Are you seriously saying that an ambulance would attend a 999 call because the patient was breathing....?

LordAshOfTheBrake wrote:

gina948 wrote: Last year my husband fell ill with, as we believed, gastroenteritis. Over the course of the week he got worse and despite phoning for medical assistance no one visited him. I couldnt lift him into the car because he was too heavy and after two weeks he was bed bound. One night in the early hours his forehead was swollen, his eyes sunken and he was pale. He'd lost a lot of weight and despite the prescribed over the phone drugs finally taking effect he wasnt conscious so in desperation I phoned for an ambulance. The fact that he was still breathing meant that they wouldnt come out. I supplied a sample of his stools while he was ill and the results came back to say he had suffered from campylobacter. He'd lost three stone in two weeks and was poorly for around a month. His stomachs still not 100% recovered 12 mths on. So people who need the help dont get it and people who dont, do!! Work that one out!!

Are you seriously saying that an ambulance would attend a 999 call because the patient was breathing....?

LordAshOfTheBrake says...
2:30pm Thu 14 Mar 13
"Are you seriously saying that an ambulance would attend a 999 call because the patient was breathing....?”


Hahahahahahahahahaha
hahahaha!

gina948 wrote:

LordAshOfTheBrake wrote:

gina948 wrote: Last year my husband fell ill with, as we believed, gastroenteritis. Over the course of the week he got worse and despite phoning for medical assistance no one visited him. I couldnt lift him into the car because he was too heavy and after two weeks he was bed bound. One night in the early hours his forehead was swollen, his eyes sunken and he was pale. He'd lost a lot of weight and despite the prescribed over the phone drugs finally taking effect he wasnt conscious so in desperation I phoned for an ambulance. The fact that he was still breathing meant that they wouldnt come out. I supplied a sample of his stools while he was ill and the results came back to say he had suffered from campylobacter. He'd lost three stone in two weeks and was poorly for around a month. His stomachs still not 100% recovered 12 mths on. So people who need the help dont get it and people who dont, do!! Work that one out!!

Are you seriously saying that an ambulance would attend a 999 call because the patient was breathing....?

LordAshOfTheBrake says...
2:30pm Thu 14 Mar 13
"Are you seriously saying that an ambulance would attend a 999 call because the patient was breathing....?”


Hahahahahahahahahaha

hahahaha!

I clearly meant wouldn't attend, but hay ho, we all make little errors.


Back to the original point though.

Are you seriously saying that an ambulance would attend a 999 call because the patient was breathing....?

Your original message said "so in desperation I phoned for an ambulance. The fact that he was still breathing meant that they wouldnt come out."

Yes I am seriously saying that I honestly thought my husband was seriously ill and no one came out to help him. I sat at 1am on the bed beside him with the phone in my hand waiting for a physician to call me back, (a tactic they use to avoid sending help!) which they did and all they said was that if he was no better by the morning then I was to take him to A&E. Quite how I was supposed to physically get him out of bed, down the stairs and into the car was a mystery considering he was delirious which was why I phoned for help in the first place and the fact his forehead was swollen like I've never seen before and the fact he had lost so much weight and the fact his eyes had sunk clearly showing signs of dehydration! Its shocking that not even a doctor would come out and visit him over the course of the two weeks he was so ill and I've lost all faith in the NHS since this happened. He had flu last week and started with horrendous chest pains. He asked me to call for help and said that I would happily take him to A&E to be checked out but there was no point in phoning a doc or ambulance because we knew from last time that we wouldnt get any help! He agreed and suffered but his brother had exactly the same thing a week later and he had to be put in the recovery position!

I get the point that you had poor service and were given the run around etc. That is absolutely shocking in its own right.

My father had a similar experience, but luckily his partner called a local doctor who knew my father who decides that it must be very serious for him to be wanting a doctor came straight away and within an hour he was in hospital.

However your original post suggests that even the 999 for ambulance had someone say they wouldn't attend because he was still breathing. That I find especially hard to believe. If that's what you really meant then that is absolutely shocking!

Yes its shocking but thats what I was told, words to that affect. I wish, to be honest, looking back, I'd written a complaint in full but I didnt because we had so much going on and the fact my husband had recovered meant we just moved on but the experience has left a bitter taste in ones mouth. I find, when it comes to Services in general, Swindon is terrible and considering the amount of places I have lived I am able to compare this with full validation! From Social services right the way through to the ambulance service and its not the people who do the hard graft its all the managers who havent got a **** clue about anything! This article just proves it (again)!