A LOCAL woman who asked for a copy of the medical notes of a family member who was transferred from SWAH to Altnagelvin has been left shocked by what they revealed.
One of the biggest concerns among the local community regarding the removal of emergency general surgery (EGS) services from the Enniskillen hospital has been regarding delays in treatment both as a result of the travel distance to Derry and the fact patients have to go through another emergency department (ED) queue at Altnagelvin.
That was exactly what the woman’s relative experienced when they attended the SWAH ED earlier this year – a long delay awaiting an ambulance, followed by another delay when they had to join the queue at the Derry ED.
Now, the woman has learned that these delays happened despite the fact his medical team at the SWAH had deemed him to be “at risk of death” if he did not receive emergency treatment.
The medical notes also revealed there was no full ambulance crews in the Enniskillen area that night and they were also a crew short in Omagh.
The woman had requested these notes due to concerns regarding various aspects of their care, which sadly included two trips from SWAH to Altnagelvin as they suffered post-operative complications.
Following several requests, to both the Western Trust and the NI Ambulance Service, the woman eventually received several sets of notes. These included those from the patient’s time at the SWAH, notes from their ambulance transfers, notes from when they had to rejoin the ED queue in Altnagelvin, and surgical notes.
One of the first things that jumped out at the woman from their loved one’s notes from the SWAH was that it clearly stated their life was at risk if they did not receive emergency surgery.
“It says, ‘Is there a need for an immediate intervention that cannot be carried out at the current facility, and the patient is at immediate risk of death or life-changing loss of limb or sight?’ The answer is ‘yes’,” she said.
Stating she simply could not believe what she was reading, the woman continued, “For any patient to be waiting that long, when they know they are at risk of death, do they think that’s OK?”
She added, “I have real concerns. That wording is not unique to my parent. I would imagine it is exactly the same for every patient who needs a transfer for emergency surgery.
“It states ‘immediate intervention that cannot be carried out at the facility’ – this is grossly unfair and clearly all of our surgical Fermanagh patients are known to be exposed to this risk.”
The notes also revealed that on the night in question, no ambulances were available locally.
She explained, “It says ‘staff shortage at the nearest dispatch office’ and then ‘no full crews in Enniskillen tonight, one crew short in Omagh due to staff shortages, high volume of work, will cover ASAP, delays expected’.”
Campaign group Save Our Acute Services (SOAS) said the notes revealed the dangers of families being asked to transfer patients to Derry themselves due to a lack of ambulance cover.
“We have raised concerns that so many private ambulance companies are involved in transporting patients, and so many patients feel they are doing the right thing when told it may be in their best interests to transport their own family members,” said a spokesman.
“People are willing to do the right thing, however, is it the medically safe thing?”
They added the large volume of disjointed medical notes for one patient from various sources was also a cause for genuine concern.
“That can potentially lead to unintentional mistakes in recording patient details. Many sets of notes increase the potential to lose medical details that matter. In particularly when handing over from one hospital to another. You’re generating pages after pages at each stop in your journey,” they said.
“Two years ago, you would’ve gone to SWAH ED, you would’ve had your appendix out, your family would have visited, and you would’ve gone home.
“Now we have such issues with patient safety.”
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