A 73-year-old double amputee from Peterhead was left waiting in the middle of a busy road for three hours following a fall as there were no available ambulances to help him.
Eddie Terry, whose lower legs are amputated, had been returning home from an enjoyable afternoon at Peterhead Men’s Shed on Monday.
The pensioner uses an electric wheelchair, and as he went round a corner a bolt came out one of the wheels, causing the vehicle to collapse.
Mr Terry fell off the kerb and onto the road, waiting for around 20 minutes before someone came to his need.
The incident happened at around 4.30pm, just off busy West Road.
“I’m buzzing away up the hill, and the next minute I’m face down in the middle of the road,” he recalled.
When someone finally rushed to his aid, an ambulance was called numerous times to help Mr Terry, who is diabetic.
Passing police were even pulled over by bystanders.
But despite everyone’s best efforts, minutes then hours passed without any sign of help.
Mr Terry said that his wife Mairi, 59 – who he describes as his “rock” – was told by an ambulance call handler that despite her husband’s worrying situation he was “not a priority.”
Three hours later, an ambulance came to collect Mr Terry taking him to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI).
Discussing how he felt while waiting for the ambulance, he said: “Are they ever going to come?
“I’m 73 – I worked for 50 odd years paying into the system, and when I rely on the system it just doesn’t come. It’s not there.
“It’s hard to explain, especially when you’ve been waiting for an ambulance for three hours, you think to yourself, ‘do they really value me anymore?'”
Mr Terry was quick to praise the people who helped him on the street, including a woman called Lynn who also tried calling for an ambulance.
“Luckily enough there’s still people about that actually care about others,” he said.
“And all thanks and respect to the police, they didn’t want to leave me.”
‘Medics were brilliant – but my wait was too long’
Mr Terry faced yet another lengthy wait at ARI, where he had to wait another four hours in the ambulance before being taken into the hospital.
“All in all, from the time I fell to the time I was actually seen by a nurse or a doctor, was eight and a half hours,” he said.
“It just seems to be getting worse. To be left sitting in the middle of the road for three hours and then even when you get to the hospital, I was still sitting in the ambulance at 1am in the morning.”
Despite his trauma, Mr Terry praised ambulance crews, nurses and doctors, describing them as being “absolutely brilliant”.
SAS “sincerely apologises” for delay
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We’d like to sincerely apologise for the delay in reaching Mr Terry.
“Unfortunately, at the time of the call we had no crews available as we were experiencing significant pressure on our services due to lengthy hospital turnaround times at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, with 13 ambulances waiting to transfer patients to A&E and a turnaround that which averaged three hours per vehicle.
“We remain committed to working with NHS Grampian to reduce wait times for ambulances but appreciate the public’s concern that this situation has not improved.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian added: “We are extremely sorry to hear about Mr Terry’s wait at ARI. We experience periods of exceptionally high demand at the emergency department, which can be due to the volume of acutely ill patients arriving, bed availability and/or staffing pressures.
“Regrettably, this can lead to ambulances having to wait at the front door. People are triaged as normal with those facing life-threatening situations – such as heart attacks or strokes – an absolute priority.
“Again, we apologise to Mr Terry – and anyone else similarly affected – for the wait. We would be happy to discuss this further and would encourage him to contact our feedback service.”
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