Pensioner, 74, was left lying on the floor with a suspected broken hip for five hours despite an ambulance depot just three miles away
- John McCallum, 74, fell while doing exercises at his home in Leith, Edinburgh
- Forced to wait for just under five hours in such severe pain he could not move
- The Scottish Government described the wait as ‘completely unacceptable’
A pensioner was left lying on the floor for five hours unable to move with a suspected broken hip while waiting for an ambulance.
John McCallum, 74, was doing physiotherapy exercises in his home in Leith, Edinburgh, when he fell at 10am on Thursday.
The pensioner, who has previously had a stroke, was left in such severe pain that he could not move.
His partner, Jane Clarke, dialled 999 at 10.30am – but an ambulance did not show up until 3.20pm, despite the nearest ambulance depot being just three miles away.
John McCallum, 74, was left lying on the floor for five hours unable to move with a suspected broken hip while waiting for an ambulance
The Scottish Government described the wait as ‘completely unacceptable’.
It urged the Scottish Ambulance Service to launch an ‘urgent investigation’, and said ‘lessons must be learnt’.
Jane said: ‘We had this call from a paramedic in Glasgow and they don’t want to talk to you, they just read from a script and get a yes or no.
‘I am a human being and I am distressed because he is distressed.’
She had to provide a bottle for John to urinate into as he could not move.
He was doing physiotherapy exercises in his home in Leith, Edinburgh, when he fell at 10am on Thursday
His partner, Jane Clarke, dialled 999 at 10.30am – but an ambulance did not show up until 3.20pm, despite the nearest ambulance depot being just three miles away
Jane added: ‘I am really annoyed that you have to put up with this service because somewhere along the line somebody has to be responsible and answer for it.
‘For the SNP it is Westminster’s fault, and for Westminster it is the SNP’s fault.
‘No-one seems to take responsibility for anything.
‘It is symptomatic of our health system.
‘I am not blaming the ambulance service, they just don’t have enough people.
‘Five hours is unacceptable for someone his age to be lying on the floor.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘We’re very sorry for the distress suffered by Mr McCallum and his family.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘We’re very sorry for the distress suffered by Mr McCallum and his family’
‘The delay in this case is completely unacceptable and the Health Secretary expects the Scottish Ambulance Service to provide a full explanation for this delay to her and to Mr McCallum’s family.
‘The service will rightly be contacting Mr McCallum to apologise and will also be carrying out an urgent investigation to ensure lessons learned from this case are applied across the Service.
‘The service is currently carrying out a national review of demand and capacity which will help to ensure they are working as efficiently as possible and have resources in place to meet both current and projected future demand across Scotland.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: ‘We are very sorry for the delay in responding to this patient.
‘We always aim to triage patients so that those with life-threatening conditions receive the most rapid response.
‘We will be investigating the circumstances fully.’