AFC Portchester: Hamble player waited four hours for ambulance

A football player waited four hours for an ambulance when he was hurt in a match

A footballer waited almost four hours for an ambulance when he hurt his neck in a match.

Saturday's game between AFC Portchester and Hamble FC at Fareham, Hampshire, was abandoned when he was injured.

Visiting side Hamble's Bailey Honeysett, 17, fell into a barrier after being tackled by another player.

South Central Ambulance Service apologised for the delay and said it had experienced "extreme pressure" at the time.

The player was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, according to host club Portchester which is in the Wessex League Premier Division.

Mark Gibson, therapist at AFC Portchester, said he was unsure how long the ambulance would take

Mark Gibson, head therapist for Portchester's first team, helped Mr Honeysett after the player fell face first into the side-line barrier, and phoned an ambulance.

"We knew there would be a delay, we were just unsure how long he was going to be there on the ground," he said, telling the BBC it was protocol not to move someone whose neck was in pain.

"It was a little bit worrying when he is outside and cold," Mr Gibson added.

Paul Kelly, AFC Portchester chairman, said Mr Honeysett was discharged from hospital on Saturday night having pulled a muscle in the back of his neck.

"Incidents like this do highlight the situation [in ambulance services] and hopefully people will take notice," he told the BBC.

He said: "Everybody should take priority but if there's not enough staff to go around we just have to stick with it."

Paul Kelly, AFC Portchester's chairman, said everybody should take priority for medical support

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) NHS Foundation Trust confirmed it was called at 15:53 BST and had upgraded the request for assistance after a second call told handlers Mr Honeysett's condition had changed.

"At the time of the call we were experiencing a high demand on our services," a spokesperson said, confirming an ambulance reached the ground at 19:44 BST.

They said: "Our teams both in our control room and on the frontline do their very best to respond quickly and care for our patients.

"But sadly there are some occasions when despite our best efforts we are unable to reach those patients as swiftly as we would like, particularly at times of extreme pressure on the service as we are seeing currently."

"We are extremely sorry that we were unable to reach the patient as quickly as we would like."