Coventry baby waited 40 MINUTES for an ambulance

[dutchman]

A distraught mum was left waiting for more than 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive while her baby struggled to breathe.



The distressing incident happened after the woman took her child to Willenhall Primary Care Centre, in Remembrance Road, Coventry, yesterday afternoon.

As soon as he saw them a doctor told staff at the surgery to call an ambulance.

However it took 41 minutes for ambulance crews to arrive at the care centre despite repeated calls to 999.

Another patient who was in the surgery at the time, who did not want to be named, said: “I was waiting for my appointment and a doctor came out and told the receptionist to call 999 for an ambulance as there was a baby struggling to breathe.

“She made a call and even though she gave them all the information there was still no ambulance after about ten minutes, so she rang again.

“They asked for all the information again and asked to speak to the mum. The receptionist said that the mum was in with the baby and the doctor.

“The ambulance hadn’t come when I went in for my appointment and still hadn’t arrived when I came back out.

“It was only when I was on the bus going home that I saw the ambulance going towards Willenhall.”

The incident comes just weeks after West Midlands Ambulance Service was revealed as the top performing trust in the country for responding to the most serious incidents.

A statement from West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We received a call from a GP at Willenhall Primary Care Centre to attend a child who had breathing problems at 1.11pm on Tuesday afternoon.

“The 999 call was categorised as a Green 2 - serious but not life-threatening call - requiring a 30-minute ambulance response.

“An ambulance was sent to the primary care centre, arriving at 1.52pm, where upon arrival it was confirmed by the GP that the ambulance was no longer required.

“As a trust we will always aim to deal with every call as quickly as possible. Sadly, on this occasion the service we provided wasn’t to the high standards that we would expect.”

[rebbonk]

Expect this poor level of service with lots more if Barmy Lucas gets her way and cosies up to Birmingham.