Disabled woman 'forced to make her own way to hospital' after being told 'ambulance couldn't take her wheelchair'
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A disabled woman has claimed she was abandoned in agony and told to make her own way to hospital because the ambulance couldn’t take her wheelchair.
Rupy Kaur, from Sale Greater Manchester, has cerebral palsy and relies on her electric wheelchair to get around.
But when she visited A&E after she started suffering from back spasms she was told that she should seek help immediately if they got worse.
Rupy went to her GP because she was in agony and he called for an ambulance.
(Image: MEN Media)
(Image: MEN Media)
But when the crew reached Firsway Health Centre, Rupy says she was shocked to be told the ambulance couldn’t take her because of her wheelchair.
She says they told her it was because of "health and safety" reasons.
Scared and upset, Rupy decided she had no choice but to make her own way to Wythenshawe Hospital.
It took her three hours to get there - her accessible car had broken down so she had to call the RAC, before finally getting her carer to drive her.
The ambulance service say "some wheelchairs’ cannot be secured in ambulances, and so it would be dangerous’to transport them."
She told the Manchester Evening News: “I was stressed out and scared – if the reason for my spasms was what the GP had suspected then all the faffing around would have caused paralysis and incontinence.
(Image: MEN Media)
(Image: MEN Media)
“Thankfully it turned out to be muscular in the end, but it’s worrying that we’re in 2018 and the ambulance service isn’t equipped for a lot of disabled people’s needs. Awareness needs to be raised.”
A spokesperson for the North West Ambulance Service said: “We are very sorry to hear that Ms Kaur was unhappy with the care she received from us and glad to hear that she is now feeling better.
“There are some wheelchairs which we are not able to safely secure in our ambulances which would put the patient and our staff at risk if a collision occurred, and therefore we are unable to carry them.
"However, we would be happy to look into this for her and would urge Ms Kaur to get in touch with our patient experience team so that we can properly investigate the incident.”