The local paper today reported on a story about an 81 year old lady pensioner who fell in the grounds of Burnley Hospital and was left in the gutter for half an hour waiting for an Ambulance. Although receptionists came to help her, NO DOCTORS came to her aid and when the Ambulance arrived all it did was take the pensioner 100 yards round the corner to the hospital main doors.
The poor woman, soaked wet through and half conscious, then had to wait another hour to be seen by a doctor.
It's one of those stories of such disbelief you have to read it twice just to confirm it's not a hoax. The story is however true. It makes me ashamed to see just what's happened to our NHS and the disgraceful way Burnley hospital has been stripped of crucial services over the years.
In Nov 2007 Burnley General Hospital's 'A&E' was 'downgraded' to an 'Urgent Care Centre' which treats only minor ailments/injuries. Burnley's A&E closed and moved to Blackburn where more serious cases were sent - usually via ambulance from Burnley hospital.
So, sadly readers, the above story about the pensioner left in the gutter is not unique.
- In June 2010 a man had an epileptic fit in front of Burnley General Hospital yet he was sent 17 miles to Blackburn for treatment.
- Another incident happened in Feb 09 where an elderly woman was taken by ambulance on a 17-mile trip to the Royal Blackburn Hospital after a car crash in the grounds of Burnley General Hospital.
So it seems if you have an accident at Burnley hospital you're either moved to another hospital 17 miles away or left in the gutter until an ambulance arrives.
This begs the question "is Burnley General Hospital really a hospital at all" ?
