CONCERNS about ambulance response times have resurfaced after an elderly woman was left lying on a pavement in Bourton-on-the-Water for more than an hour waiting for an ambulance.
The incident occurred in the same week that it was revealed that the ambulance service in Gloucestershire was not meeting target times for emergency calls.
Last Friday afternoon’s incident saw the elderly woman collapse outside Bourton Newsagent, in the centre of the village.
Marc Buffery, 65, of Upper Rissington, who witnessed the incident, said: “I am utterly disgusted with the response that this poor elderly lady has experienced. Had the GP not been there or if the original lady had not obtained that duvet, the poor woman would be in a state of advanced hypothermia at the least.
“The standards of service by the ambulance service in Gloucestershire is at an all time low. It is not their fault, it is the result of cost cutting and short-termism. I blame the obscene treatment meted out by this Government to the NHS.
“All I pray is that the Health Minister one day needs an emergency ambulance so as he may gain an insight into how things really as as a result of his constant abuse and underfunding of the NHS.”
Liberal Democrat Gloucestershire county councillor Iain Dobie (pictured below) also expressed concern over ambulance response times after a county council meeting last Wednesday.
He said: “We heard that the ambulance service for Gloucestershire is not meeting its target times for emergency response ‘Red’ calls.
“This situation is not only about those emergency calls but also the knock-on effect this is having on lower-priority calls.
“Do I blame the ambulance service for the delayed response? No, the main cause for this situation is the fact this Government is starving the NHS of funding.
“Meanwhile here in Gloucestershire, the government is also cutting back, year after year, on funding for the county council's public health responsibilities.
“The current crisis in our health and care system will not be solved without a national cross-party settlement on proper funding.”
Conservative councillor Dorcas Binns (pictured below), cabinet member for social care at the county council, however said that funding for the NHS is increasing: “In Gloucestershire, funding for our NHS is planned to increase every single year by more than inflation until at least 2021. By 2021, funding will have increased from £730m today to £803m.
“The national NHS budget is also increasing. It is disappointing, but not surprising, to see Liberal Democrats using misleading political spin to try to scare people about NHS funding.”
A spokesperson for South Western Ambulance Service said: “Ambulance performance targets are set nationally and apply to every ambulance service in England.
"A total of 75 per cent of our time critical, life threatening emergencies need to be reached in eight minutes and for the month of November across Gloucestershire this figure stands at 74.81 per cent.
"As we head towards one of our busiest times of the year we urge people to really consider their reason for calling 999 – if it is not for a time-critical, life threatening emergency please access alternative NHS providers and choose well."
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