Injured Stella Roper from Weymouth waited more than two hours for an ambulance and then a taxi was sent instead

In another example of an overstretched service, Stella Roper waited for assistance in terrible pain after falling down concrete steps outside her flat in Weymouth at night, injuring her ankle.

Neighbours put a duvet on her to keep her warm as temperatures fell and time ticked by.

In what Stella thought was a ‘bizarre’ situation paramedics were so busy that in the end, a taxi was dispatched to take her to Dorset County Hospital, paid for by the NHS.

It comes after the Echo reported the case of an elderly Dorchester woman who was left waiting in a garden for an ambulance for three-and-a-half hours after suffering a suspected broken hip, forcing her daughter to put together a makeshift tent to protect her from hypothermia.

South Western Ambulance said the procedure for arranging taxis is not uncommon, and as it had ‘five time-critical life threatening calls’ and other higher priority incidents locally on the same evening as Stella's fall, this was the best thing to do.

Stella, 38, an epileptic, understands the service is under pressure but is concerned that she waited so long and ended up being assisted by a taxi driver.

The shop sales assistant arrived at her flat in Chickerell Road after finishing work last Friday evening.

Trying to manoeuvre sideways down a narrow set of communal steps outside the flats with bags of shopping, she fell down about four steps, landing awkwardly near the bottom of the stairway. Stella screamed in pain, fearing she had broken bones. She then tried to attract the attention of a neighbour.

She said: “I screamed like blue murder. I thought I’d broken something and was in too much pain to move. I phoned my partner who said not to panic and to call an ambulance. I called 999 and the service said they’d send a response car. They said they were busy and apologised but to hold tight. I stayed where I was, trying to keep calm and not moving.”

Eventually she attracted the attention of a neighbour who came to her aid. Stella took painkillers and was given a blanket and duvet, hoping a paramedic would arrive soon to assess her.

She said: “I kept in contact with the service who said someone would be coming and they asked further questions. I was getting really cold and was still in pain.

"It was then suggested, after more than two hours of waiting, that they could organise a taxi for me. I couldn’t take it all in but I said I would do it if I could get help up the stairs.

"It was bizarre that a taxi was coming for me after all that. I was shocked. They must have been okay with me moving but what if my condition had worsened or I had injured my spine? It would be left for a taxi driver to deal with me.

"The ambulance service must be really stretched. I feel sorry for them, and I feel sorry for the public, too.”

Kind neighbours eventually lifted Stella up the stairs in what she described as a ‘big palaver’ and a 'real struggle' before she hobbled to the roadside to wait.

Stella said the driver, from Bob’s Cars, was ‘very nice’, even organising a wheelchair for her at the hospital.

Following X-rays it was confirmed Stella’s ankle was badly bruised and sprained and she was sent home after a few hours with some crutches. She is off work this week as she recovers.

Stella said her mother Eileen, 72, experienced a similar situation recently as she had to wait on the ground for an hour-and-a-half for an ambulance after suffering a fall while taking her dog for a walk at Bincleaves.

Tracey Galloway from Bob’s Cars said the firm’s professional contract drivers are a separate operation from day-to-day taxi operations.

Drivers are trained in safeguarding and other issues, helping people into care facilities and hospitals, doing a proper ‘handover’.

She said drivers transport hospital patients on an ‘ad-hoc’ basis and only take patients deemed to be of ‘low risk’.

She added: "If someone was in agony then we wouldn't move them, they would need paramedics." 

'Taxi is cost-effective alternative to an ambulance'

A SPOKESMAN for South Western Ambulance Service said: “We received a 999 call at 6.47pm on Friday, January 13 reporting that a female patient had sustained an ankle injury and was struggling to weight bear.

"As with each and every 999 call made to the service it was triaged thoroughly. As the injury was minor, it was categorised as a low priority and, in line with standard procedure for this type of call, the patient was offered a taxi to the nearest treatment centre.

"This is not an uncommon procedure and we have Service Level Agreements in place with a limited number of taxi firms across the region in order to take patients who are unable to reach a treatment centre by other means. There is a robust governance process around the use of taxis, which are used as a cost-effective alternative to an ambulance if the patient has no other means of transport to a treatment centre. By doing this, we, and indeed other ambulance services in the country, can free up valuable ambulance resources for patients who will benefit from clinical care and the specialist equipment on our operational vehicles.

“We spoke with the patient, who confirmed that she was happy to take a taxi, and with help, had managed to get to her feet. A clinical supervisor spoke to her at length and she received further information about when the taxi would arrive. Her condition did not warrant an ambulance attendance.

"We only have a finite number of resources available to respond to the ongoing rise in demand for our service and we must prioritise those in a life-threatening time-critical emergency situation.

“In Weymouth on Friday evening the Trust dealt with five time-critical life threatening calls and many others which required an ambulance resource to attend.

“In the face of rising public demand and expectations, a finite resource and the challenges of investment in the ambulance service, SWASFT is taking part in the national NHS ambulance response programme which aims to improve response times to critically ill patients and make sure the most appropriate response is provided for each patient first time, which, on occasion, might be a taxi. The patient has not contacted us with any concerns."

In response to the incident reagrding Stella's mother, the spokesman said: "We received a 999 call at 11.40am on January 4 from a location in Weymouth informing us that a female patient had sustained a back injury. A crew arrived on scene just before 1pm, the patient was treated at the scene and not taken to hospita​l."