Provide better Ambulance transport service.
Call received from carer to complain about the service provided by Royal Preston Hospital and the Ambulance transport service. On 04/012/14 my husband had a fall and was rushed to the hospital. He was kept in the hospital for a week in the fracture ward but was not treated for anything. A referral was made for him to be seen by a specialist and have an MRI done at Manchester Hospital on 12/12/14. The ambulance service took him to this appointment but got there almost 2 hours late. For this reason the appointment with the specialist was missed and only had the MRI done. Another appointment was made for 18/12/14 to be seen by the specialist. The Ambulance transport service has not been helpful in anyway. They have never arrived on time and the husband has ended up missing vital appointments. When the carer has complained she has just been told that they can never give the exact time for pick up. This is an issue as the husband had an appointment 12.45pm. Carer was told that he would be picked up anytime from 8am onwards. The carer had to get her husband ready as she did not know when they would arrive to pick up. He was eventually picked at 1pm, but was not taken to the hospital as they had to pick up another patient. Due to this the appointment was missed and it was a wasted journey. The system needs to be looked at at this is causing a big problem to the patient and carer. Provide better Ambulance transport service. Sort out pick up times as important appointments are being missed. Keep patient updated with pick up times.