I am incandescent with rage!UPDATE.

[Diflower]

Good grief that's appalling!

I wonder what any of the actual doctors at the Hc would have said or done though, since it doesn't sound as if they got to know about it?

[Aggers]

Frank - like you I would have been hopping mad at the response you had at the doctors' surgery.

How would the doctor have responded, on a night out at the theatre, to the old announcement, 'Is there a doctor in the house?'

If I were you I would give details to your local newspaper.

[Diflower]

Maybe phone the local radio station? - just ask for the News desk, you can say you don't want to be identified and they'd be fine with that.
And you can stress how impressed you were with the Asda staff, but they'd probably get a response from the Hc.

[tonicha]

Words fail me.

But well done you WM xx

And hope that lady makes a speedy recovery.

[Workingman]

I have contacted WYMAS, the ambulance people, and also downloaded the surgery's complaint form. I'll not let this go.

[JoM]

I'll not let this go.

Good!!
This is appalling!

[Paddypix]

Absolutely disgraceful and really quite frightening Frank. Well done on the actions you took and brickbats to the HC staff who showed such a lack of care. I would seriously consider taking the line that Ossie suggested. No need for names (you probably don't know the lady's name anyway) just an outline of the excessive ambulance response time and the attitude of the HC.

Talking about the "is there a doctor in the house" slant, my son is a doctor and he says that in, for example, a plane when that call comes, he never leaps to his feet but waits for a few seconds to see if anybody else responds first. He says without all his equipment he's not much more use than a trained first aider or paramedic. Of course that doesn't apply to the HC doctors who would have had access to all their gubbins.

[cruiser2]

There has been a case recently locally, where the ambulance took a long time to arrive despite several phone calls It was in the local press.
So it seems to be a national problem as there is a reduction in funding for the NHS ambulance service, with fewere ambulances, some of which are stuck at A & E as they cannot transfer the patients from the ambulances int the hospital as there are not enough beds.
When my wife cut her leg several years ago and I phoned for an ambulance, I put the phone down after I had told the operator my wife could be bleeding to death and I was going to try and stop the blood.

[Workingman]

I have updated the OP.

[JoM]

Well thank goodness that the lady is okay, no thanks to the 'emergency' services. And well done to you Frank for sticking at it and getting this looked into.