Buxton pensioner thinks patient transport service acted '˜appallingly'

David Storer, 73, is a carer for Brenda, 81, who is a lower leg amputee and was diagnosed with the neurological disease just before Christmas last year.

He relies on the patient transport service, which up until August 1 were provided by NSL, to get her to and from her appointments at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport however the past two times he has booked assistance nothing has turned up.

David, from Clough Street, Buxton, said: “It is appalling that my wife who is clearly a vulnerable person has had to cancel an appointment.

“We managed to re-book it but nobody turned up a second time either which is disgusting and I feel very let down.”

Brenda’s first missed appointment was back in early June at 3.30pm and the couple were told to be ready for the ambulance pick up two hours before.

At 4.35pm he was contacted by a driver but had already spoke to the GP and was told by the time they got there the surgery would be closed.

Brenda’s medical appointments are for a poor circulation in her full leg and has recently had a stent fitted to help clear blockages.

The appointment was rescheduled for Tuesday, July 26 and when an ambulance did not turn up again David rang up to find out why.

He said: “They even hadn’t scheduled my appointment.”

David, who has an enlarged heart and suffered a heart attack, had to make the journey himself and then had to leave Brenda unattended while he went and asked for help from a hospital porter.

He said: “I know this was not an emergency but I needed to get my wife seen too. I feel forgotten about and I don’t think it is right to keep letting people down.”

David and Brenda have been married 46 years and says caring for her is very tiring. He said: “It is tough and when things go wrong like unnecessarily missed appointments it makes things more difficult.”

An NSL spokesperson said: “We appreciate fully the inconvenience and distress this has caused for Mr and Mrs Storer. We manage around 20,000 non-emergency patient journeys a month. Nearly 8 out of 10 of these journeys are booked on the day, but we make every effort to meet the needs of every patient whether pre-booked or at short notice. Regrettably, the problems in this case arose from a case of human error for which we offer our sincere apologies.”