Calls for ambulance service to be disbanded (From Salisbury Journal)

Calls for ambulance service to be disbanded

7:00am Thursday 5th January 2012 in News By Annie Riddle

A COUNCILLOR has called for the Great Western Ambulance Trust to be disbanded after the death of an 88-year-old woman who faced a “totally unacceptable” wait for treatment.

Doreen Wignall slipped on ice and fell, hitting her head, in Ludgershall on December 17.

A paramedic took almost an hour and a half to reach her, and then there was a 21-minute wait for an ambulance to take her to Salisbury Hospital, where she died two days later.

Tidworth’s cllr Mark Connolly said: “The poor lady was left waiting in the open on a cold and wet morning, with passers-by trying to keep her warm.

“If it had been my mum lying there, I’m sure I’d have been incandescent with rage.

“It will be for a coroner to decide if the delays were a contributory factor in her death. But I am shocked at the very poor response time.”

Cllr Connolly has asked MP Claire Perry to take up the case with GWAS and advise him on how best to disband and replace the service.

He said: “There have been concerns about response times within the Tidworth and Ludgershall area for a number of years, raised by the two town councils and the Tidworth area board.

“I do have very strong reservations as to whether GWAS is fit for purpose.”

GWAS is already in talks about a possible takeover by the South Western Ambulance Service, which is rated one of the best in the country.

It would create one giant ambulance trust covering the whole south west.

GWAS has apologised for the delay in reaching Mrs Wignall and has launched an inquiry.

Representatives of the service are expected to meet cllr Connolly and Ludgershall’s councillor, Chris Williams, who chairs the Tidworth area board, when their own investigation into the delay is complete.

They also plan to attend the next area board meeting to try to allay public anxiety.

Ludgershall town council has been promised it will be kept fully informed about the inquiry.

Phil Matthews, chairman of patients’ watchdog the Wiltshire Involvement Network, plans to raise Mrs Wignall’s case at a meeting of Wiltshire Council’s health and adult social care committee on Thursday January 12. He said: “There is a lot of anger.”

Committee chairman cllr Mike Hewitt said he was concerned that there seemed to be a growing problem with the service to the Ludgershall area generally, and his committee would be looking into this.