Ipswich stroke victim took bus after cancelled ambulances

On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 16, 45-year-old Gavin Matthews started experiencing a loss of feeling and twitching in his right hand.

His wife, Lauren Matthews, 25, rang 111 and they were told an ambulance had been dispatched to take Mr Matthews to his closest accident and emergency department at Ipswich Hospital.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 16, 45-year-old Gavin Matthews started experiencing a loss of feeling and twitching in his right hand. (Image: Lauren Matthews)

However, just half an hour later, the couple received a call to say the ambulance would not be coming and were advised to make their own way to A&E or call Mr Matthews' GP practice the next morning.

With no other means of transport, they were forced to embark on a one-hour journey involving two buses, finally arriving at 7pm to be told they could be facing a seven-hour wait time.

Reassured that the hospital were happy for Mr Matthews to leave, the couple decided to return home after two hours, opting for a more restful wait for an urgent GP appointment in the morning.

With no other means of transport, Mr Matthews was forced to embark on a one-hour journey involving two buses. (Image: Lauren Matthews)

However, at 1am Mr Matthews took a turn for the worse.

With complete loss of feeling on his right-hand side, Mrs Matthews quickly called 999 and ran through the stroke evaluation questions.

They immediately dispatched an ambulance to take him to Ipswich Hospital but, for the second time in the space of just eight hours, this was cancelled shortly afterwards.

"I was disgusted. They cancelled not just once, but twice," said Mrs Matthews.

"My husband suffered a stroke and two ambulances were cancelled. It's just the stuff of nightmares."

By this time, Mrs Matthews' brother and sister had made it to Ipswich and the team helped to carry Mr Matthews to their car.

He was seen at Ipswich Hospital ten hours later, at midday on Thursday, November 17, and a scan showed a bleed on the brain confirming that Mr Matthews had suffered a stroke.

Over 19 hours after the onset of his first symptoms, he had firmly missed the four-hour window for delivering essential 'clot-busting' stroke medication.

With limited movement in his right arm and leg and muscular weakness causing speech issues, Mrs Matthews also claims that her husband has experienced issues with his care in hospital, having been left to soil himself three times after repeatedly asking for help.

Mr Matthews will remain in hospital for a further three months for physiotherapy and speech therapy, meaning Mrs Matthews will have sole responsibility for both him and their six-year-old daughter Ruby.

Mrs Matthews is now solely responsible for the care of both her husband and her six-year-old daughter Ruby. (Image: Lauren Matthews)

"It's a huge pressure on me, because I'm now essentially living the life of a single mum," she said.

"If the ambulances hadn't been cancelled, my husband wouldn't be in the situation he is now."

An East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to Mr Matthews for his experience.

"The NHS is facing extremely high demand. When demand is at its highest, we regret that we are sometimes unable to send ambulances to patients while we deal with incidents involving immediately life-threatening conditions."

EEAST has been operating at the highest escalation alert level for ambulance trusts since July 2021 - the National Ambulance Resilience Unit's Resource Escalation Action Plan level four.

The EEAST spokesman added: "We are working very closely with our NHS partners to reduce handover delays at hospitals to get more ambulance crews back out into the community to improve care for our patients."

Dr Angela Tillett is chief medical officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Ipswich Hospital. (Image: ESNEFT)

Dr Angela Tillett, chief medical officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We were very sorry to hear about the concerns raised with the East Anglian Daily Times by Mr Matthews' wife following his attendance at Ipswich Hospital's A&E department.

"Our dedicated patient advice and liaison service (PALS) is here to help anyone who has feedback about their experiences in our hospitals and they can liaise with clinical colleagues on a patient's behalf.

"We would encourage Mrs Matthews, or a nominated family member, to contact the team so we can listen to their concerns, investigate the issues raised and give them our support at this time."