Ambulance 'loses way'

A stroke victim from was on board an ambulance that allegedly got lost en route from Stafford to Cannock hospital.

Less than 48 hours after suffering a serious stroke 88-year-old John Weaver of Cramer Street, Forebridge, Stafford, was being transferred to Cannock Chase Hospital.

The retired engineer was in vehicle used by the private firm Ambuline, unable to speak or move and dressed only in nightwear. There were three other elderly patients in the same vehicle and the journey is claimed to have taken an hour and a half because the driver and his assistant had no idea where they were going.

When Mr Weaver arrived he was shivering and vomiting and his condition had severely deteriorated.

His daughter Ros Weaver, aged 51 said: "My dad had a stroke on Wednesday and was taken to Stafford hospital where he was kept for 24 hours in the emergency assessment unit.

"Then they decided to transfer him to the stroke ward in Cannock on Thursday. The ambulance had been booked for 4pm. But it didn't turn up until 7.15pm and then took an hour and a half to get to Cannock. Not knowing any of this I decided to drop by at Cannock hospital to check he had arrived safe and well.

"I called at about 8.45pm imagining he would be all tucked up in bed but as I pulled up I saw him being taken out of an ambulance in a rickety old chair shivering and being sick. He looked awful.

"I was outraged. I said to the driver 'Why on earth has it taken so long to get here?' and he told me he had got lost. I was horrified. But I couldn't be angry at them because it was obvious they didn't have a clue.

"When I shouted at them 'My father has just had a stroke' they said they had no idea and weren't even told about the conditions of the patients they were transporting."

She claimed there was another elderly patient of a stretcher and two or three others sat on seats. They were all being transferred to the stroke ward and had nothing but nightgowns and blankets round their knees.

Miss Weaver said: "They were being transported like goods rather than human beings. If I hadn't happened to check he had arrived ok I probably would have never have believed how bad it was."

Ms Weaver said her father is ordinarily a very active 88-year-old who had been looking after his girlfriend who has dementia when he had the stroke. No-one was available for comment from Ambuline today.