A 77-year-old woman was left lying in the street for five hours with a broken hip while waiting for an ambulance, prompting widespread criticism and an apology from the North West Ambulance Service.
Lynda Hill was found by neighbour Steve Ashcroft in Holden Grove, Brighton-le-Sands, Crosby, on Tuesday afternoon. He heard her shouting for help and quickly assessed her condition.
“She was outside a house on the side of the pavement. I did a quick assessment and established pretty quickly that it was either her leg, hip or pelvis,” he told the ECHO. “She is 77 and has problems with osteoporosis. She is also on blood thinners so I was worried about an internal injury.”
Five-hour wait for paramedics
Steve made the 999 call at 2.44pm, but paramedics did not arrive until 7.40pm. He described the delay as “completely unacceptable” and said that if the weather had been worse, Lynda could have been at risk of hyperthermia.
“It was a concern that she would be getting colder, the neighbours all got blankets and a pillow and she was in the recovery position. We were just watching her symptoms and monitoring her. I knew with her health history there was a great risk,” he said.
“Luckily it was dry and relatively warm. For a vulnerable person, if this had been a different time of year she would have gone hyperthermic. On my last call to them I was put on hold. I was exceedingly concerned.”
He added: “I was beside myself, I thought this was just completely unacceptable. There was no way I was going to leave her.”
Hospital found broken hip
When Lynda finally reached hospital, doctors discovered she had broken her hip and required hip replacement surgery. Steve said: “So she was lying with a broken hip on the street for all that time.”
Steve shared a video on social media showing Lynda on the floor, and her family gave permission to include a still image to highlight the problem. Following the ECHO’s report, readers expressed their horror, with many labelling the situation as “ridiculous” and “horrific”.
Robbie Connolly-Hill, a family member, said: “Felt longer than five and a half till the ambulance took her to the hospital. Was bloody freezing on that street with the wind coming up from the beach. Nice fella made a tent to stop the wind on her back. Just added more, sorry. Steve and another lady looked after mum. I got there straight from work. Same with brother and wife. Mum is glad of this awareness, and as said, don't blame the ambulance staff. Also, the hospital was great, X-ray fast, and it was in the corridor for a while, then a bed and an operation first thing. She's sitting up, cracking bad jokes in her bed.”
Eli Gdl said: “This is just ridiculous! A long lie for older people can kill them. The national service framework for older people targets falls as a main priority. Why, then, are emergency services not acting on the government's agenda? Emergency services need to improve and make falls a priority with people, especially older folk.”
Lisa Marie said: “It's horrific and I have saved a man myself who was in the same situation in the middle of winter with ice on the ground, we wrapped him up and waited for three hours whilst he lay there... But also, when my husband had a heart attack, it took them one hour to get to him. Luckily, he did survive, but there are not enough resources to save people anymore. It's scary. Getting help should not be a lottery. I dread to think how many people have died not getting an ambulance in time.”
Pete Flock added: “They need to change the way patients are booked into A&E. Far too many paramedics and ambulances are stuck outside A&E waiting for their patient to be booked in, which causes massive delays in ambulances getting to 999 calls.”
Christine Mary commented: “Absolutely no excuse in this land that a 77-year-old should have to wait five hours for an ambulance. Surely there must have been some way the emergency services could have helped her? It’s just mind-blowing.”
Petro Labadie said: “Oh, sad. Happy that she found some place where help was available. Wishing her a speedy recovery. Caring neighbours well done to them.”
Catherine O'Connell posted: “God bless her, hope she makes a speedy recovery.”
Kenny Keith said: “So sad seeing this! My missus friend's father had a fall the other day and hurt his back, aged 90+! Could not physically move. He waited 17 hours for help to come to him! It's unacceptable and beyond a joke, especially with the elderly or with infants, the other end of the life spectrum. Poor lady.”
Ambulance service responds
In response to the article, a spokesperson for the North West Ambulance Service said: “We are sorry it took a long time to reach Lynda, and we hope she makes a full and swift recovery.
“Unfortunately, it was a busy day for NHS services across Merseyside, and this impacted our ability to respond as quickly as we would like in some cases.
“If Lynda would like to contact our patient resolution team, we would be happy to look into the incident and provide more detail.”
