Wrexham woman with severe learning difficulties waits over 28-hours for ambulance

Alison Cassidy said her daughter Emma has severe learning difficulties, is non-verbal and suffers from seizures.

Due to her needs, when Emma needed dental treatment, she had to attend Glan Clwyd hospital for specialist treatment.

After having her original appointment cancelled and rescheduled back in August, Emma experienced a ‘dental crisis’ before her new appointment and was in need of urgent treatment.

Mum Alison said Emma was in so much pain and distress and could not understand why and with concerns over seizures, she was given medical advice to call 999.

She told the Leader: “Patient transport wouldn’t take anyone with less than 24-hour notice and because of Emma’s stress levels we were advised to call 999.

“It became a dental crisis. Emma had already had a seizure that was severe enough she had bit into her tongue and couldn’t eat for several days. She was in considerable pain and there was danger of it happening again.

“Pain and stress are triggers for chronic seizures which was then risking sudden and unexpected death. She was in agony but her appointment had been postponed.

“From Emma’s point of view, she wouldn’t understand that she was waiting and had to be patient. All she would understand was she was in an awful lot of pain and no-one was doing anything about it.

“She was so distressed she was hitting out, hitting her own head. Police officers kindly attended, we are incredibly appreciative for their support, they spent five hours helping to restrain Emma to stop her hurting herself.

Emma Cassidy

“They are not medically trained, it was not their job but the ambulance service was not doing anything to help.”

Alison said a paramedic came out to see Emma on the Monday morning (August 23) but was unable to give treatment as it needed to be given at the hospital.

After her condition worsened, the family called the ambulance but after 28-hours, found a way to get Emma to the hospital themselves.

Alison added: “We were told there was 10 ambulances outside of the hospital waiting for patient handovers.

“In the end, the only people trying to find a solution were her family. Not the ambulance service, we were the ones doing everything in our power. Her condition was worsening, she was getting more distressed being in pain.

“We finally managed to get two nurses out from the Wrexham Maelor to give her a heavy level of sedation. We then ordered a Hackney cab to take her to Glan Clwyd hospital and the two nurses followed behind with resuscitation equipment in case she had a fit.

“We will never know how long we would have been left waiting if we hadn’t have found our own way there.”

Alison said more needs to be done to help relieve pressures on these services but also more support needs to be available for families of those with additional needs.

She said: “Services for adults with learning difficulties are scandalously underfunded. Emma didn’t get a routine dental appointment until she was 20. She has been disregarded, left with improper pain relief and no-one wanted to help.

“It was the community learning disability team who organised liaison nurses from the Maelor but we only found that service during the crisis.

“We feel massively let down by our health board, we are just left in the dark. Emma is a 22-year-old adult with only 11 teeth.

“Her favourite food is apples, she has the mental capacity of a toddler and cannot understand why she can’t bite them anymore.

“She is traumatised and devastated because after this ordeal she had to have eight teeth taken out which could have been unavoidable if she had been given a proper appointment.

“If Emma didn’t have a disability, this wouldn’t have happened. There have been continual promises that lessons have been learnt but the same mistakes are being made over again.

“The fact we had been waiting over 24-hours for an ambulance had not made a difference to priority.

“Emma is non-verbal, she can’t communicate with us or understand but we are left watching her suffer and we are entirely at the mercy of institutional difference.”

Liz Wedley, Ambulance Operations Manager North, for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: “We recognise that our response to this case fell below our own standards and apologise sincerely to the Cassidy family.

“At the time of this incident we were in a period of very high demand and faced with several ‘red’ calls, our highest priority, in the Wrexham area combined with resources being delayed in handing patients over to hospitals.

“We have received contact from the Cassidy family and will be working with them to fully understand their concerns and take on board any opportunities for learning.

“We wish Emma a speedy recovery from her ordeal.”

Sean Gallagher, Interim Head of Nursing for Learning Disability Services at BCUHB, said: “We recognise how upsetting this incident must have been for Emma and her family and we apologise for any distress caused. I will be contacting Mrs Cassidy directly to better understand and act on her concerns about the care that Emma has received.”