A lady claims she had to strap her grandfather to a piece of wood and drive him to the hospital in the back of a van because there were no accessible ambulances after he shattered his hip after falling and landing on the ground.
Friday morning, devoted granddaughter Nicole Lea discovered 89-year-old Melvyn Ryan lying on the floor of his home in Cwmbran, South Wales.
The 27-year-old stated that she was notified by the emergency lifeline button around the senior’s neck.
After arrival, she discovered that her grandfather also had a shattered shoulder and was bleeding from a head wound.
The firefighter, who resides in Pontypool, was shocked when he called 999 and was informed that there were no available ambulances and none would be dispatched.
Nicole Lea, pictured here with her grandfather Melvyn Ryan, was shocked to learn that no ambulances would assist him after he collapsed and fractured his hip.
Ms. Lea was forced to rope her grandfather to a piece of wood and transport him to the hospital in the back of a van.
Instead, the call handler reportedly instructed Nicole to contact an out-of-hours general practitioner and book a cab to transfer the elderly person to the hospital, before hanging up to ‘attend other calls’
Ms. Lea, who has been Melvyn’s primary caregiver since 2020, when he lost his wife Maureen to Covid, stated, “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
I anticipated a lengthy wait for paramedics, but I never expected to be told, “We have nothing to send; you’ll need to arrange alternative transportation.”
I was left with my grandfather in anguish on the floor, wondering how I might save his life.
“Finally, with the assistance of my partner and mother, I loaded him onto a plank of wood and into the back of the van we purchased to transfer our pets.”
‘To make matters worse, when we did get him to the hospital, the staff there warned me that he would have died if we had followed the advice offered over the phone.
They informed us that had we seated him upright in a taxi, the hip fracture would have likely torn an artery and been fatal.
She said that she was distressed and dissatisfied by what had transpired.
Nicole: “I knew the NHS was in danger and that wait times were long. I also heard it was understaffed and underpaid.”
But what I didn’t realize when I dialed 999 was that they would simply turn around and declare they weren’t sending help. I was unaware that they would hang up on me, expecting me to choose how to bring him to safety.
Pictured are Ms. Lea, Melvyn, and her late grandma Maureen prior to her passing in 2020 from Covid.
Only by teamwork, brainstorming, and quick thinking were we able to bring grandpa, an army veteran, to the Grange University Hospital (in nearby Llanfrechfa) in less than two hours.
Elliot Hill, the spouse of Nicole, added, ‘Once we arrived at the hospital, though, everyone was wonderful – they could not have done more for Melvyn. They rushed to my van and loaded him directly onto a cart.
Additionally, he was X-rayed within an hour or so. Therefore, our problem is not with the frontline staff, but with management.’
The Executive Director of Operations for the Welsh Ambulance Service, Lee Brooks, stated, “We are sorry to hear of Mr. Ryan’s experience; it is absolutely below the level of service that we strive to provide.” We understand why this would be distressing for Mr. Ryan and his family, just as it is for us and our people.
The media has extensively covered the pressures facing the entire NHS, especially how these constraints are affecting our ambulance services. These demands have continued to increase over the past few weeks, prompting us to declare a business continuity event yesterday night and continue to manage them as best we can today.
Current demand levels, hospital handover delays, and staff sickness levels have hampered our ability to respond in a safe and timely manner.
Our business continuity procedures are designed to allow us to attend to the sickest patients first, while those with less severe conditions may have to wait longer for assistance or be advised to make their own way to the hospital.
Mr. Ryan and his family are encouraged to contact our Putting Things Right team so that we can explore the incident and gain a deeper understanding of their experience.