"Turned down for an ambulence"

One night my husband needed an ambulance as his catheter that he had fitted the day before at Exeter Hospital had I thought come out. It had in fact become blocked as I was to find out later. The operation he had was for prostrate cancer. I knew it was vital that the catheter was working or it could have a devastating effect on the operation. My husband was very distressed as was I. Urine was seeping out and he was in pain. The operator who took my call informed me that it was a job for my gp and they offered to inform the out of hours to get a doctor to phone me. It was around midnight. We do not have transport. My husband is 71 and had major surgery the day before. I desperately needed to get him to Barnstaple hospital. I explained all this to the operator.

I managed to get a friend out of their bed and we ended up getting him there and had to join the queue in A and E. He was in his pyjamas with urine leeking everywhere. A towel wrapped round him.

We finally got seen by a lovely staff nurse who called a surgeon down to see my husband who then admitted him.

I would have thought the operator would have been able to get us an ambulance given what I told them during my call.