Ambulance 'lost and out of fuel'

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A woman is calling for more ambulances to be stationed in Monmouthshire after a lengthy delay getting her mother to hospital.

Roya Azordegan said an ambulance crew got lost on the way to her house in The Narth, near Monmouth, and then had to get petrol before going to hospital.

Her 82-year-old mother was recovering from pneumonia but had had a relapse.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said the closest ambulance had been in Caldicot and the house was difficult to find.

It added it was a rare event for an ambulance to have to refuel with a patient on board.

When her mother was taken ill with breathing difficulties, Mrs Azordegan initially rang Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny and asked if she should bring her in but was told because of her mother's age and frailty, she should call an ambulance.

I asked where they'd been and they said they'd got lost Roya Azordegan

Mrs Azordegan believes the total time from calling the ambulance to her mother arriving at hospital is a lot longer than the two hours the ambulance trust has recorded.

She told BBC News: "It was well over an hour, coming up for two hours [before they arrived].

"At one point they rang me and said they were quite close to a pub that used to be open and it's about three minutes away from here. About 20 minutes later I could see the ambulance at the bottom of my drive.

"My house is quite set back. I was wondering why they weren't coming in but I couldn't leave my mother.

"They drove off and came back about 15 minutes later. I asked where they'd been and they said they'd got lost."

The crew told her they were very low on petrol and asked if she knew a station.

Mrs Azordegan, 56, said she had to lead the ambulance as the staff were afraid they would get lost again.

Unfortunately many other Monmouthshire residents have suffered an unacceptable service David Davies, Monmouth AM and MP

They went to a petrol station in Raglan to fill up before going on to hospital.

Mrs Azordegan praised the way the crew dealt with her mother and said she did not think they were to blame for not having maps in the ambulance.

Her mother was in hospital for two weeks recovering.

She wants to see ambulances restored to previous stations.

"Until two or three years ago there was an ambulance that parked outside Trelleck on the road to Monmouth. That was taken off.

"As far as I know there was an ambulance park in Raglan which is no longer there. We're just not covered."

She is concerned anyone having a heart attack would not get an ambulance to them on time.

She said she accepted the trust had just appointed a new chief executive, Alan Murray, and did not wish to "embarrass anyone".

"Justice demands that you allow a man to have an opportunity to put things right," she added.

'Extremely rare'

Monmouth MP and AM David Davies said: "Mrs Azordegan's experience was absolutely horrendous but unfortunately many other Monmouthshire residents have suffered an unacceptable service.

"I have written to the new chief executive asking for a guarantee that there will be some sort of ambulance cover in Monmouthshire 24 hours a day."

An ambulance service spokesman said: "On some occasions, especially when a call is to a rural area and to a difficult to find location, it takes longer than we would like."

He said the ambulance control staff used sophisticated tracking equipment to talk the crew to the destination, adding: "The crew arrived in 1 hour and 14 minutes, delivering the patient to hospital at Abergavenny 38 minutes later."

"It is extremely rare for an ambulance with a patient on board to have to pull into a fuel station."