Huel Tring Rugby Club have filed a formal complaint to the ambulance service after a man who suffered a heart attack was told he would have to wait 10 hours for an ambulance.
On Sunday, October 13, it was reported that a man had suffered a heart attack during a 4ths & Occasionals rugby match in Tring.
Speaking to TRINGnews, a spokesperson for the club said: “He was initially taken to Stoke Mandeville by two people who were watching the rugby, as the ambulance service claimed it wasn’t high enough priority and said it would be a 10-hour wait for an ambulance.
“On arriving, the staff on seeing his condition immediately transferred him to the specialist heart unit at Harefield where he was treated.
“We as a club have made a formal complaint to the ambulance service.
“The club has two defibrillators and personnel who know how to use them but in this instance, emergency treatment was required as soon as possible. The actions of very capable people at the club, including our physio, probably saved his life.”
Kelvin MacKenzie, editor at The Sun, headed to X after the incident and said: “If he had waited the 10 hours, would he be alive today? Is that kind of wait acceptable? Is this kind of wait usual?”
Another club spokesperson said: “At the time, it was extremely difficult to understand why the ambulance service would not treat [the man] as a CAT 1 as outlined in their process. Hence why we have requested call logs and investigation via a formal complaint.
“The consultant at Harefield said if we had waited any longer, he would not be with us.”
The club has confirmed that the man is now recovering after undergoing an operation and receiving six stents.
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to the man. At the time of this call, the service was under significant pressure, with many ambulances queued at hospitals to handover patients, which means we cannot respond to patients across the community as quickly as we want to.
“In these circumstances, our call handlers advise of the potential wait time and ask if the patient can be driven to hospital. Emergency operations centre clinicians kept the call under review until the patient was in the care of hospital staff.
“We would like to encourage the patient to contact our patient experience team to discuss this case.”
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