6 JAN

Two-and-a-half hour wait for ambulance

By timesecholife on in All News, Leek news

An ambulance service has sent out an apology to a cyclist who was left on the roadside for almost two and a half hours after falling off his bike in the Moorlands. The incident happened in Thorncliffe near Leek on Thursday (December 30) and involved a 61-year-old male cyclist being in collision with a tree.

An ambulance service has sent out an apology to a cyclist who was left on the roadside for almost two and a half hours after falling off his bike in the Moorlands.

The incident happened in Thorncliffe near Leek on Thursday (December 30) and involved a 61-year-old male cyclist being in collision with a tree.

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: “Police were called at 4.12pm on Thursday (December 30) to Easing Lane, Thorncliffe near Leek following reports of a collision.
“Officers attended and found a cyclist in collision with a tree.
“A 61-year-old man was conveyed to hospital by the ambulance service.
“His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing. No further police action was taken.”

The Leek & Moorlands Echo have spotted some comments online made by social media users about the incident, some airing concern that the cyclist had a long wait until the ambulance service arrived.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman confirmed that the service received a call at 4.03pm on Thursday (December 30) to a patient who had come off their pushbike in Thorncliffe.

They also confirmed that ambulances were dispatched to the scene on several occasions but were diverted to higher category calls. Several welfare calls were carried out before the crew arrival. An ambulance arrived at 6.27pm and conveyed the patient to hospital.

The spokeswoman said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the patient and apologise for the delay in responding on December 30.

“Unfortunately, the whole of the NHS remains under severe pressure which is being felt intensely in our service in the West Midlands and hospital handover delays do mean patients are waiting longer for an ambulance to come to them in the community. We were also dealing with high levels of demand from people with life-threatening conditions.

“We are working with all local partners across the health and care system to reduce delays so crews can respond to the next incident as quickly as possible, and staff and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to respond as soon as we can. We are also continuing to bolster frontline and control room staffing and have introduced a number of measures to help manage pressures in the service.”

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1 Comment

Bring back Staffordshire Ambulance Service. It had the best emergency response times in the country. Could never understand why it was merged into West Midlands. Too big an area for one crucial organisation to cover.
Written by Gary Shenton, January 7, 2022 - Reply