Lincolnshire Police blue-light emergency patient to hospital

The patient was driven in a police van on Sunday evening, officers said

Police officers had to drive an unconscious patient to hospital under blue light after being told it would be a three-hour wait for an ambulance.

The patient, who had been assaulted, was taken from a village near Sleaford to Lincoln County Hospital on Sunday.

Tweeting about the incident, PC Jimmy Conway said it shows "our NHS really needs more funding".

East Midlands Ambulance Service said it was sorry it was unable to provide an ambulance sooner and thanked police.

Sue Cousland, Divisional Director for Lincolnshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "We would like to speak to the patient or their family and urge them to get in touch with us at their earliest convenience."

Lincolnshire Police said it was "mindful of the need to work with our partners to manage demand".

'Safe from harm'

The force confirmed police attended an address near Sleaford at about 18:30 BST on 23 October, with the officers taking the injured person to hospital.

Dep Ch Con Julia Debenham said: "It is entirely possible that any of our operational police officers may find themselves called upon to assist with patients who are in need of urgent medical help.

"Part of our role is to protect and help keep people safe and it is true that we may be the only service that can help at that particular point in time.

"We are mindful of the need to work with our partners to manage demand and we maintain regular positive conversations that are aimed at ensuring our own organisations are delivering service to the public of Lincolnshire that helps to keep them safe from harm and feel protected."

Ms Cousland added the ambulance service continues "to experience a sustained high level of life-threatening and serious emergency calls".

She said: "We continue to work closely with all our health and social care colleagues across Lincolnshire to find solutions to the system-wide challenges we are facing, including on ambulance handover delays."