LONDON – The parents of a baby who suffered burns filed a complaint against the London Ambulance Service (LAS), saying the service canceled a requested ambulance twice in two hours, and they drove their 10-month-old to the hospital themselves.
The mother called 999 after the child spilt a hot drink on herself[GF1] , and was told medical assistance was on its way, Mirror UK reports.
A LAS spokeswoman said the ambulance initially sent to their address was directed to a more urgent patient, and staff were unsuccessful in attempts to contact the mother.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused but we always prioritize patients in a serious or life-threatening condition.”
After waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, a relative called back and was told the ambulance had been redeployed to another patient.
“All this time my daughter was screaming and screaming, and a layer of skin had come off her arm,” said the mother, who does not want to be identified. “She was absolutely hysterical, her entire forearm was burnt. I couldn’t drive her anywhere, I couldn’t even call her dad to tell him what had happened because she was clinging on to me and not letting me go.”
She eventually rushed her daughter to Wood Lane Medical Centre to find it was closed early, then went to a nearby pharmacy, where she called 999 again under orders from the pharmacist.
After a 45 minute wait, they called back again and were told an ambulance would not be arriving at the scene.
Eventually, the child’s father arrived and drove the child to the hospital. Staff were concerned she suffered second degree burns, but they were later diagnosed as superficial.
The infant’s mother later found a message from LAS on her home landline cancelling the second ambulance that she had called for while at the pharmacy.
The mother says her family was put through unnecessary stress.
“It’s disgusting,” she said. “No one called us to tell us the ambulance wouldn’t be on its way. Both times we had to chase them up.”