Disabled man left stranded in hospital (From Penarth Times)

Disabled man left stranded in hospital

8:30am Thursday 4th February 2010

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A DISABLED Penarth man who had to call a taxi to take him between departments at Llandough Hospital after staff refused to help, says he was left ‘devastated and angry’ by the experience.

Mike Adams, who suffers with severe osteoarthritis in both feet and spends his days confined to a chair at his Salop Street home, visited the Podiatry Clinic at the hospital on January 26 for treatment on an infected toe.

He was due to have an x-ray in the main hospital on the same day.

The 66-year-old was taken to the hospital by ambulance, but after his appointment finished at the Podiatry Clinic – which is located at the bottom of a hill in the hospital grounds – staff told Mr Adams that a porter could not take him to the main hospital because it was ‘too dangerous’.

“It was a ridiculous sitiuation,” he said.

“I was in a wheelchair and there was no way my wife could push me up the hill to the main hospital.

“The staff weren’t willing to help either - the attitude was ‘you're on your own’.

“We were desperate, but luckily I had money on me and remembered Windsor Cars in Penarth have a taxi that can carry a wheelchair," he added.

“I called them on my mobile and they drove all the way from Penarth just to take me 100 yards up the road.

“It’s disgraceful that no-one at the hospital could help us.”

Mr Adams says the experience has left him unsure whether to return to the hospital - and he now wants assurances that other patients will not have to suffer a similar ordeal.

He added: “I dread to think what an elderly person on their own would have done when faced with the same situation.

“I’ve been through hell over the last few years with my health, but at least I’m still relatively young.

“The whole thing has left me feeling devastated and angry.

”We even had to get a taxi home because there weren’t any ambulances to take us.

“You’d think it was a joke if it wasn’t so shocking.”

The Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has issued a full apology to Mr Adams - and has promised to ‘learn lessons’ from his experience.

Nurse Director, Ruth Walker, said: “We take the safety and wellbeing of all our patients extremely seriously. “We work closely with the Welsh Ambulance Service to ensure patients in wheelchairs are moved safely to and from hospital sites and between hospital buildings on the same sites rather than by portering staff. “This minimises the risks of patients coming to harm on very busy hospital sites. “I offer Mr Adams a full apology for the inconvenience that he faced,” she added. “It was unacceptable that we weren’t able to offer him more support to get to his second appointment. “As an organisation we will learn lessons from Mr Adams’ experience and ensure patients are supported wherever necessary between appointments.”

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