A health chief in Gloucestershire said she was “grateful” that she did not have to call an ambulance after suffering a stroke last Friday (April 22nd). Deborah Lee is the CEO of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and travels to A&E by car.
From there, she was scanned, given clots, and taken to Oxford for a thrombectomy. Ms. Lee praised the “pace, expertise and kindness” of NHS staff she met along the way, but also reflected on what might happen.
In short, she could wait several hours for an ambulance – but after hearing his wife complain about the delays, Ms. Lee’s husband took her straight to the hospital, where she received immediate treatment. In a Twitter post, the health chief imagined a very different scenario.
READ MORE: Gloucestershire is the worst in England to wait for the GP, statistics show
She wrote: “I had a little ‘turn’ on Friday – slanted and unable to speak. After hearing me complain about the delays of the ambulance, my husband took me in his car and took me to A&E.
“I was taken to the intensive care unit and 35 minutes later I was in a CT scan, 30 minutes later a bolus of TPA was on board and I was on my way to Oxford for a thrombectomy. From start to finish, the NHS served me with pace, expertise and kindness. “
Ms. Lee wrote the reflective thread on Twitter from a coffee shop and said she couldn’t get one thing out of her head: “What if my husband wasn’t there and my daughter called an ambulance and I was put on Cat 2 Stack ?
READ MORE: The Wye Valley NHS Trust is facing a financial deficit of £ 30 million
“Through no fault of my own, SW has the worst delays in delivering ambulances in any region; my system works relentlessly to resolve this, but to no avail. The problem is not in front of the front door of hospitals, but in the back. complete lack of flow, no silver bullet and no answer, but the government has the power to generate one.
“Starting with a major overhaul of social care – training, development, pay reform and professionalisation of care workers to build a sector that people want to join, stay in and feel proud to belong to . The care built in communities, around people’s own homes and, not only for the cases when they are crushed and end up in hospital, but really preventive care. Fortunately, I won’t need social care either, but I can almost have that… “
Want our best stories with fewer ads and alerts when the biggest news comes out? Download our app at iPhone or Android .
Read more related articles Read more related articles
Add Comment