Sunday, November 1, 2009

Pensioner trapped alone in ambulance for five hours

A sick pensioner was abandoned inside an ambulance for more than five hours after the its driver forgot about him and went home. The 65-year-old man was trapped inside the vehicle at Sharston ambulance station in Wythenshawe until he was found at 1.15am following a major police alert.

The driver was supposed to take him back to his Northenden care home after he left a hospital appointment at 7pm. But it's understood that after dropping off three other patients, the driver took the vehicle back to the station and locked it up for the night when his shift ended at 8pm.

The North West Ambulance Service has launched an urgent inquiry and the driver has been suspended. Ambulance chiefs have apologised to the man, who was unhurt, in person.

The blunder has been slammed by other ambulance staff. A source said: "He was reported to police as a high risk missing person. I find it a disgrace that a member of the ambulance service can forget about a patient in the back of an ambulance and lock it up. Most staff are very annoyed about this."

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