Health bosses have vowed to investigate after a woman taken to Melton Hospital after suffering a severe angina attack was told they couldn’t help her, meaning she had to go to Loughborough instead.
Melton patient Julia Brown (75) said those who treated her at Loughborough, as well as her own doctor, were ‘appalled’ that a 999 call wasn’t made by staff at Melton Hospital as an ambulance/paramedic would have helped her there and then.
She said: “I suffered the attack on Saturday, October 3 and my son took me to Melton Hospital for assistance. There were three people on duty and no patients - the time was 2.30pm. I was told they were unable to help me, as although they could do an electrocardiogram (ECG) there were no facilities for taking bloods.
“I was offered the Leicester Royal Infirmary, although the member of staff didn’t know where it was, or Loughborough. My visit to Melton wasn’t logged nor any information taken so we went to Loughborough.
“It was very busy with a four-hour wait but they fast-tracked me. I was seen within 10 minutes of being there with a high degree of professional help. They were brilliant.
“However, they were appalled that a 999 call wasn’t made by the staff at Melton Hospital as an ambulance/paramedic would have assisted asap. This information was also confirmed by my doctor.”
Mrs Brown, who carries a spray and takes tablets to relieve her angina, which she has suffered with for at least five years, added: “I’m not one for ringing 999 so I didn’t even think about that but my son was disgusted with how I was dealt with at Melton Hospital.
“It could have been someone who may not have had the wherewithal to go anywhere else and something more serious could have happened.”
East Leicestershire and Rutland’s urgent care service, which launched in April, enables Melton patients to visit the urgent care centre (minor injury and illness) at Melton Hospital during evenings (5pm-9pm), weekends and bank holidays (9am-7pm).
A spokesman for East Leicestershire and Rutland Urgent Care, the providers of urgent care centres in the area, said: “Patient safety is paramount to all we do and we take issues such as these extremely seriously. We’ll be conducting a thorough review into this case to establish whether the care given was appropriate.”
A spokesman for the East Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group, which commissions health services for the area, added: “We’re saddened to hear about her experience at Melton Hospital and hope she is recovering well. We take all complaints about the service very seriously and will be investigating further.”
