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11/08/2004
'Distressed' hip break pensioner receives surgery
An elderly woman who broke her hip and lay incapacitated on the floor of her home for three hours waiting for an ambulance has undergone surgery at the Ulster Hospital.
Portaferry pensioner Susie Smyth, 80, fell at her residential home at 11.15am on Sunday but was not collected by an ambulance until 2pm despite the best efforts of her doctor.
The on-call doctor telephoned for an ambulance but when it failed to arrive in sufficient time, Ms Smyth was forced to eat her lunch on the floor.
Her niece, Catherine Denvor, said the whole experience has been very distressing for her elderly aunt.
"Staff had to see if it was coming soon because at that stage she couldn't be moved from the floor," she said.
"She lay there and they made her as comfortable as they could."
A statement issued by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it regretted the inconvenience caused to Ms Smyth and her family.
"The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service regrets that this patient endured a lengthy wait for an ambulance due to the level of emergency activity in the area at the time," it said.
Despite her family being told that an emergency operation on her hip had been postponed indefinitely, the Ulster Hospital has confirmed that Ms Smith underwent surgery on Wednesday.
(MB)
Portaferry pensioner Susie Smyth, 80, fell at her residential home at 11.15am on Sunday but was not collected by an ambulance until 2pm despite the best efforts of her doctor.
The on-call doctor telephoned for an ambulance but when it failed to arrive in sufficient time, Ms Smyth was forced to eat her lunch on the floor.
Her niece, Catherine Denvor, said the whole experience has been very distressing for her elderly aunt.
"Staff had to see if it was coming soon because at that stage she couldn't be moved from the floor," she said.
"She lay there and they made her as comfortable as they could."
A statement issued by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it regretted the inconvenience caused to Ms Smyth and her family.
"The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service regrets that this patient endured a lengthy wait for an ambulance due to the level of emergency activity in the area at the time," it said.
Despite her family being told that an emergency operation on her hip had been postponed indefinitely, the Ulster Hospital has confirmed that Ms Smith underwent surgery on Wednesday.
(MB)
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