Transfer ordeal

THE treatment of 78-year-old Mrs Elaine North, who went to Newark Hospital with chest pains, surely falls below acceptable standards. We’re not talking here about the medical care she received, but the test of endurance she was subjected to before she was seen at what Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust deemed to be the right place.

Mrs North’s ordeal was extended by the huge inconvenience of having to be treated at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield, and not being able to get home to Farndon until almost 24 hours after first seeking medical help.

Mrs North arrived at Newark Hospital’s urgent care centre and minor injuries unit at 4.30pm.

It turned out she had a chest infection and mild pneumonia but because of her medical history she could not be treated at Newark.

An ambulance was called at 6pm, but one did not turn up until 10.30pm.

She was then left waiting in a chair at King’s Mill A & E until the early hours when she was moved on to a ward and prescribed antibiotics.

Transport between Newark and King’s Mill is one of the major issues that the Newark Healthcare Review failed to tackle.

Mrs North’s case is a perfect example of the folly of having a system in place that subjects patients to 20-mile transfers only as and when ambulances are available (in this case, late at night) and the difficulties in getting back to Newark.

Mrs North would have had no idea what she was letting herself in for when she arrived at Newark Hospital. Staff there were simply following protocols now in place on what they can and can’t treat, but that will be of little comfort to patients faced with a similar ordeal.