Daughter's fury over her mother's two-hour wait for ambulance

An elderly woman's daughter shared her anger over her mother being forced to lie in a cold winter street for two hours waiting for an ambulance.
Police help Mary-Ann Cook (70), who tripped and fell in La Porte Precinct, Grangemouth. She was forced to wait over two hours for an ambulance due to the high level of calls the Scottish Ambulance Service was experiencing at the timePolice help Mary-Ann Cook (70), who tripped and fell in La Porte Precinct, Grangemouth. She was forced to wait over two hours for an ambulance due to the high level of calls the Scottish Ambulance Service was experiencing at the time
Police help Mary-Ann Cook (70), who tripped and fell in La Porte Precinct, Grangemouth. She was forced to wait over two hours for an ambulance due to the high level of calls the Scottish Ambulance Service was experiencing at the time

Mary-Ann Cook, who has previously had surgery on both her hips, tripped and fell over outside Ladbrokes in La Porte Precinct, Grangemouth, at 12.30pm on Tuesday and was forced to lie in the street until well after 2pm, waiting in vain for ambulance personnel to come and treat her.

After recieving treatment at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Mary-Ann is now back home recovering from her ordeal.

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Daughter Tracie Thomson (41) said: “Nothing was broken, but she is in a lot of pain. It’s an absolute disgrace. I’m absolutely livid she has had to lie there for over two hours in the cold.

“I understand if the ambulance service was busy, but maybe they should look at getting more staff so people don’t have to wait as long as my mum did.

“The way she was screaming I though she broke her hip. She has broken both her hips in the past so we didn’t want to move her. Two police officers were there and helped us – they called for an ambulance three or four times to try and get them out here.

“It was the fire service who actually arrived first and treated her.”

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Four Scottish Fire and Rescue personnel were able to move Mary-Ann into the warmth of the nearby Strathcarron Hospice shop – staff cleared a space for her – while they waited for an ambulance, which eventually arrived and Mary-Ann, who comes from Grangemouth, was taken to hospital for treatment.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were experiencing an exceptionally high level of demand at this time and we would like to apologise to the patient for the delay. All 999 calls are prioritised to ensure the sickest and most seriously injured patients, including those with immediately life-threatening conditions, are given the highest priority.”