Surprised by not being able to get ambulance

[FrenchFancie]

This is in no way to have a dig at the ambulance service or at the hospitals (but maybe slightly at the junior doctors strike) but I have been really surprised recently when, for the first time in aaages, I have had to call 999 twice, and on both occasions wasn’t able to get an ambulance.

firstly my daughter was having an asthma attack, and not responding to medication. After 10 reliever puffs we called, and were told it would be a 1-2 hour wait. So we stuffed her in the back of the car and drove like idiots to the local hospital instead, where she was seen straight away. But it was a scary midnight drive. Her asthma plan states to ring 999 after 10 puffs and the ambulance should attend within 10 minutes.

second was through work where a child was having an epileptic seizure and again, we were told it was an unknown wait time, possibly 1-2 hours.

both of these things I felt really scared about, wanting urgent professional help and support, but it wasn’t available. I know I’m not going to get an ambulance for an adult with broken ankle, but kids with quick onset, possibly life threatening conditions, I was shocked there was nothing available.

is this the same now everywhere? It’s been years since I had to call 999 (like 10 years) and got a quick response last time (daughter fell off changing table, was in London and overreacted to her banging her head but the crew were lovely).

I don’t blame the ambulance service or 999 operators - in fact on both occasions the operator sounded stressed and upset they couldn’t get me help.

what, if anything, can be done about this situation?

In my experience, yes it's like that all the time, but much worse ever since COVID.

People have used and abused the system for years, and there's barely any money given to the NHS by the government (as too busy lining their own pockets) so service has decreased. Also it's becoming less and less of a desirable job and their numbers have fallen. Who can blame them? Poor money, shift work/long hours and being exposed to the worst people our society has to offer and the only reward is people banging saucepans...

I have to go to A&E fairly often for work, and every time it's a joke. Malingerers, time wasters and junkies looking for freebies. People too lazy or incompetent to go to their GP so just dial an ambulance for a free ride.

At work there is a 'code purple' which means ambulances will not be available unless for the most serious cases i.e you have to be dying. The London ambulance service has announced that this is happening more and more frequently when it was practically unheard of before.

That's how bad things are.

It’s frightening. Where we are (Channel Islands) there is no NHS, all doctors are private and our social security covers hospital treatment. Recently DH was at home sick and suddenly developed severe chest pains and numbness in his limbs. He called me at work 10 minutes drive away and I told him to phone 999 and got straight into my car to go home. The ambulance was already there when I arrived. His BP was so low they wouldn’t let him stand so the fire service came to carry him out (the lift in our building isn’t big enough for a trolley stretcher). They arrived 4 minutes after being called.

We’ve been toying with moving back to the UK and the health service is one of the points on the ‘cons’ list.

That’s horrendous 😨. An open fracture for 9 hours…

Both timings of the ambulances sound correct- they work in category’s and it sounds like. It’s times you had the correct category which are usually 8-45 min wait time however it’s winter so the timings increase. I would always advise if possible and safe to do so to get your relatives to A&E by car if safe to do and it’s quicker- if you don’t live far from the hospital

I took rushed a 70 year old having a stroke last year to hospital after being told told in would be 5 hours for an ambulance. I then sat with him for 8 hours in A&E where he wasn't seen at all. So much for all the stroke advice. He asked to go home. The next day his family GP made a formal complaint as he was convinced that had he been seen he would not have suffered the life changing injuries he's now left with.

I recently had an anaphylactic response to eating nuts, and an ambulance plus medic vehicle arrived within 5 mins of calling. Peak hours on a Saturday evening. In Bristol. I was shocked and impressed (and very grateful!) at the urgency. The subsequent overnight hospital stay was another matter though 😑

The creeping privatisation of ambulance services is making it worse and worse

Broke my ankle badly on a dark December night a couple of years ago and obviously couldn’t walk- I was away from home in a strange place and didn’t know what to do so I called an ambulance and was told to get myself to hospital in the morning. To be fair I wasn’t at risk of dying but I was extremely vulnerable on the pavement in the dark in my own. Managed to call a taxi back to where I was staying and then another taxi to the MIU in the morning.
once upon a time an ambulance would have been available for a broken bone.
To hear that life threatening conditions are not covered is actually terrifying.

Oh yes! I forgot that this would have absolutely no effect on the state of the health service!! 🤔

A year ago I was browsing in a shop when I heard a voice behind the counter begging for help. The shop worker was having a heart attack and was already on the phone to 999, but was struggling to speak. I took over and the person on the other end really wasn't kind at all. They kept getting annoyed that I didn't know the man's address or medical history! I just kept begging them to please send an ambulance, but they said it would be a 3-4 hour wait. The man became unconscious and then they told me they had to hang up because they had other calls. I was absolutely beside myself thinking he was going to die in front of me. Luckily, it was a near a chemist and a pharmacist managed to get aspirin into him, which I really believe saved his life. It still shocks me that he wasn't a priority.

SE London here. Two or three years ago I went to the GP with a severe allergic reaction. My face was swelling up, I had a full body rash, lips were swelling severely and risk of tongue swelling and suffocation.
The GP called an ambulance and told me to go home and wait. It took 12 hours to arrive.
Likewise, not ambulance related, but I've gone to A&E before with suspected retinal detachment, where surgery within 24 hours is essential. It took 48 hours to finally get seen by an eye doctor and have tests done. Luckily it wasn't what it appeared to be or I'd now be blind (I do have permanently damaged vision mind you).

There’s a serious shortage of paramedics, doctors, and nurses, with low pay and tough working conditions making these jobs far from appealing. It’s no surprise fewer people are eager to enter these professions.

You don’t often hear Mumsnetters encouraging their children to pursue these careers, given the poor salaries and less-than-ideal work environments.

The situation is made worse when ambulances are called for non-emergencies, adding unnecessary pressure to an already overwhelmed system

It's more to do with lack of beds to admit to - catastrophic cuts in social care, mean "bed blocking" is a huge issue. Our local hospital (city) now has permission to treat in ambulances parked outside a&e, so the ambulance can get back out.

This story, along with so many other sad ones shared here, makes me feel awful.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think the time has come for most people to start considering budgeting for private healthcare.

I think it’s time for the UK to have private ambulance services working alongside state-run ones for emergency and urgent situations, like in other countries. In Brazil, for example, both state-run and private ambulance systems operate together to handle emergencies and urgent cases.

Huge shortage of personnel and under funding and people being advised by 111 to ring an ambulance for every little small thing so that people who actually need it can’t access it

Have to say though I’ve had to call an ambulance for myself twice. Large city - the ambulance came within minutes - one during lockdown at the very height of the pandemic. In rural areas the wait times are significantly longer

My MIL fell about 8pm and her emergency red button company called the ambulance about 9. It came 27 hours later! Then it was only a paramedic in a car. She was on the floor in an awkward position all the time laying in a pool of her own waste.

Absolutely shocking but it's just so stretched.

Yes. This is similar to what happened to me. The call handler was rude, sarcastic and dismissive. Spoke to my husband as if he was an idiot. I thought I was going to die. Yet somehow, people who don't need an ambulance manage to get one.

for us thankfully not too long, the main waiting was in A+E and trying to keep awake, it was said that its likely quieter due to some of the strikes. thats the thing with a and e what happens if you want or need to go to zzz because they are busy etc

Perhaps the public needs to go on strike. To refuse to pay any more tax until the mess is sorted out because we aren't getting value for money. I know it's impossible but if enough self employed and employers did ot, the people in charge would have to sit up.

but by the same token part of the blame is down to the public wanting an ambulance for very minor injuries etc, it was said that the a and e was quieter due to the strikes and based on that comment to me that suggests that some do realise they dont need an ambulance

As I said earlier, perhaps it's time to introduce charges for those who attend on a discretionary basis. Or bring back on-call GPs 24/7.

Have they given you a course of emergency steroids to take when that happens? That’s what they did for us to start asap while waiting to get medical attention.

And if the ambulance service moves into REAP level 5 in the escalation policy (it is only supposed to go the REAP 4), then they have advanced clinical practitioners floor walking in control who can hold back ambulances from high priority calls based on futility and redirect them elsewhere, eg in advanced age or distance/ time being just too long for any realistic prospect of a positive outcome in a cardiac arrest.

I was sat on the side of a road with a dislocated and complicated fractured shoulder with a non driving teenager (17), 30 mins from home, last year . He was brilliant, rang ambulance twice. He had to ring around to organise someone to get me and then drive me to a&e. Worst pain in my life, much worse than my non medicated child birth. Probably sat on the side of the road for 4 hours.

When I tried to complain was told that id have to produce multiple documents to id myself. Gave up.