Lincolnshire Police take girl to hospital over ambulance delay
- Published
Rachel Ingall said it had been "scary" knowing her daughter needed help quickly
A girl who collapsed in Lincolnshire had to be taken to hospital in a police van due to delays in getting an ambulance.
The 12-year-old's mother Rachel Ingall said her daughter became unwell while walking to school in Spalding.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) told her it would be at least two hours before an ambulance could reach her.
EMAS has since apologised and said it was working to resolve pressures in the health system.
Mrs Ingall said that in June she dropped her daughter off then received a call from her phone a short time later from a stranger who happened to be an off-duty nurse.
"She told me she had found my daughter collapsed in the street.
"An ambulance was called and we were advised to place her on the floor and get a defibrillator as fast as possible.
"They notified me there wasn't an ambulance available and it would be a minimum of two hours."
Sue Cousland from EMAS said pressures in the health system were causing delays
Mrs Ingall said it was "really scary" knowing her daughter needed help, then a police van pulled up and two officers offered to assist.
"They weren't very happy to have to wait, so they took it upon themselves to make that decision and make a bed in the police van so that she could be transported to hospital as fast as possible," she said.
Sue Cousland, from EMAS, said: "We are really sorry this has happened to this little girl and her family, it is not the service we would normally wish to provide."
She said the service had been under pressure due to delays in the health system but was working to resolve them, adding that EMAS had asked the family to contact them to discuss what happened.
Due to the time it took to get to Boston's Pilgrim Hospital, doctors were unable to determine what had caused the girl to collapse.
However, two weeks ago it happened again and this time an ambulance arrived in time for her to be diagnosed with a heart condition.
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