Pensioner dies after THREE HOUR wait for ambulance following slip on black ice

  • Locals tried to stem pensioner’s blood with kitchen towels while waiting for ambulance
  • Wiltshire County Council have told Great Western Ambulance Service to hold an inquiry

By
Claire Bates

Last updated at 12:28 PM on 22nd December 2011

An 88-year-old pensioner died after she was left lying on a freezing cold pavement for three hours while waiting for an ambulance, it has been alleged.

It is thought Doreen Wignall fell on black ice causing a head injury as she crossed a bridge in Ludgershall, Wiltshire.

An investigation is underway into why it took Great Western Ambulance Service allegedly three hours to send an ambulance to a critically-ill pensioner

An investigation is underway into why it took Great Western Ambulance Service allegedly three hours to send an ambulance to a critically-ill pensioner

Repeated calls were made for an ambulance without success while members of the public gave her first aid – including stemming the blood with kitchen towels. People even supplied duvets to protect her from the rain.

Eyewitnesses say a paramedic turned up after 65 minutes – followed nearly two hours later by an ambulance. However, the pensioner died two days later in Salisbury District Hospital.

It is understood the family think she may have lived if the ambulance had got there sooner. 

Yesterday top Wiltshire County Councillor Chris Williams and the statutory patient watchdog The Wiltshire Involvement Network demanded the Great Western Ambulance Service conducts an urgent inquiry into the ‘unacceptable’ three hour wait.

Mr Williams – who represents Ludgershall on the council – fumed: ‘The ambulance took three hours to get there which is a dreadful situation.

‘I have been in contact with the Great Western Ambulance Service and there must be an inquiry into this. This must not happen again. 

‘We have had problems with the ambulance service before in this area. It is unacceptable. The family is very upset by what happened.’

Doreen Wignall was taken to Salisbury District Hospital but died two days later

Doreen Wignall was taken to Salisbury District Hospital but died two days later

Phil Matthews – who is chairman of the Involvement Network – added: ‘I am very concerned about the information forwarded to me about the three hour wait to get to this lady. There should be an inquiry and it must be done very quickly.’

Grandfather John Binsley, 71 – who gave first aid to Doreen – said: ‘I revived her after she fell unconscious.

‘She fell on the black ice. It had been raining. It was an hour and five minutes before a paramedic turned up. I used my kitchen towels to stem the blood from the wound. The ambulance arrived so much later – probably nearly two hours.’

The Great Western Ambulance Service yesterday refused to comment about the three hour wait

They released a statement that said: ‘We have been notified by the coroner about the outcome of this incident on Saturday 17 December and will be co-operating fully and openly with the resulting inquest. We will also be carrying out a thorough internal investigation.’

Mrs Wignall’s daughter Mrs Julie Pickernell did not want to talk about what happened.

An inquest opened at Salisbury yesterday into the death of Mrs Wignall from Ludgershall, Wiltshire.

Deputy Wiltshire Coroner Peter Hatvany was told she died from a Intracranial bleed following a fall at Ludgershall. She was identified by her daughter Julie Pickernell.

Mr Hatvany adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.

How will they calculate performance pay on this wonderful example of work.

There was an article in the last 48 hours on the Daily Mail website about a lady who had an heart attack had to wiat 45 minutes for an ambulance and she only lived two doors from the ambulance station before a “friend” had to take her instead to hospital…
so its not just an isolated case and it was another ambulance service…
feel sorry for the pensioners’ family and rest in peace.

No inquiry needed!! Too many managers, not enough man power on the roads. Too much demand and not enough resources.Too much winter pressure, and idiots calling 999 for inappropriate problems. Too much emphasis on profit and budgets, and not enough empathy for the the value of a human life. God help us all.

This is such a terrible shame, I feel very sorry for the poor lady and her family.
I am an Ambulance technician so can see both sides to the story. I wouldn’t jump to blame the paramedics – we go wherever we are told whenever we are told by control. It isn’t up to us to delay, we go when we are asked. I don’t know the area – is it rural? If yes then the ambulance may have been on another call, this is no excuse. I work in a rural area and staffing is a problem – and the usual story, it comes down to money in the service.
Sometimes trips and falls are catagorised as ‘non-emergency’ so other calls may be put first. Maybe control did not know how serious this ladies condition was. I don’t know – it’s an awful thing to have happened.

You’d think they would do their job properly considering their high salaries and their gold plated index linked pensions. It’s disgraceful! I hope the lawyers get involved. There has to be a proper inquiry into this outrageous incident not a cover up and definately not “there are lessons to be learnt” or other rubbish that they usually put out. People should be prosecuted all the way up that chain of command. You can’t have people in the civil service who are “above the law”, which is what usually happens.

i don’t care how busy these people are, it’s their job to get somewhere QUICKLY when they are called, otherwise what’s the point of their existence!
– cynic, london, 22/12/2011 14:45///////////////////They go when they are sent. They don’t think “oh shall I bother going to this and shall I take my time?” There has obviously been a miscategorising of the problem by a dispatcher, or something similar. The paramedics do an absolutely fabulous job which I know I could never do in a million years. One paramedic I know recently delivered a baby at home, then tended a very seriously injured motorcyclist and tried to save the life of a penisoner who had collapsed with a heart attack in the street – all three in one day. He will be working on Christmas Day, so let’s thank them rather than just have a go when the odd thing goes wrong within the ambulance service.

There are only so many crews and if these are busy dealing with other patients they can hardly leave them and rush off to someone else.

inquiry – not another. Heads should roll (and no huge payoffs and early pensions)

it breaks my heart when the elderly suffer needlessly, this is appalling!! i don’t care how busy these people are, it’s their job to get somewhere QUICKLY when they are called, otherwise what’s the point of their existence!

Utterly shameful and disgusting in the UK in 2011. I hope the lawyers and the family sue for everything they can get and heads roll. Too much to look for prosecutions but that would be appropriate.

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