Letter: Meet-and-greet solution to nonsense ambulance wait

SIR – I recently had a bad fall at home and waited almost seven hours at Bournemouth’s A&E before receiving any attention.

Fortunately, some friends took me there so an ambulance wasn’t involved.

Another friend (yes, I have more than one!) fell in his garden and was taken to Bournemouth with a suspected broken wrist, where he sat for a frustrating five hours in the ambulance.

He told the paramedics that he was quite capable of walking into A&E to wait his turn, but the rule book says if you’re taken to hospital by ambulance you must remain with it until attended to.

How nonsensical is that?

Because of all this I was particularly interested to hear on Breakfast TV about a hospital (I think somewhere up north) where an innovative scheme has been adopted with great success.

A fully-qualified doctor (sometimes a consultant) is assigned 24/7 specifically to “meet and greet” the occupant of each ambulance on arrival.

The patient is assessed and passed on immediately to the appropriate department, thereby easing the strain on A&E, getting the patient dealt with ASAP and allowing the ambulance to leave and answer other calls.

Not rocket science – just plain common sense. Wake up, other hospitals and ambulance services!

Phyllis Inglis,
New Milton