A grandmother of seven who needed a plaster after cutting her finger was refused assistance by her local pharmacy and GP – and told to call 999. Pauline Shillito hurt herself while slicing a melon in her home in Lydd, on Romney Marsh, where she lives alone.
Although the injury was only minor, the 84-year-old started bleeding because she takes blood-thinning medication, so she sought assistance at Well Pharmacy – a three-minute walk away on the corner of High Street and New Lane.
“But the pharmacist said, ‘We don’t deal with blood,’” said Mrs Shillito. “So then I went to the GP, but the receptionist said, ‘We have no nurse on duty today,’ and told me to call 999. “It’s absolutely disgusting. Can you imagine an ambulance coming because of a cut finger when there are people having heart attacks – all I needed was a plaster.”
Pharmacist Tunde Odelade – who spoke to the pensioner following the accident last Wednesday – said his staff are not trained or insured to handle such injuries. “There was a lot of blood. It was literally dripping down her arm onto the floor – in a pharmacy full of people, that’s very unhygienic,” he said.
“I told her I couldn’t help her because I can’t deal with blood. I did offer to take her details and call an ambulance, but she refused.”
Mrs Shillito says she was also turned away from Orchard House GP Surgery in Bleak Road because they “did not have a nurse on duty” – and told to call 999. Fortunately, while walking home, she bumped into a neighbour.
“She saw me crying with a piece of blood-soaked kitchen towel around my finger and helped me,” the former John Lewis shop assistant added. “She cleaned my finger and put a plaster on it. I’m just lucky I have good neighbours.”
A spokesperson for Orchard House Surgery’s operator, Invicta Health, said: “We are aware of the matter you have raised; however, we are unable to comment on issues relating to individual patients’ care due to patient confidentiality. Our practice is committed to ensuring patients receive appropriate advice and access to the right healthcare service based on their clinical needs.”
Mrs Shillito, who moved to Lydd from London seven years ago, said she refused to call 999 because “it wasn’t an emergency” and she “didn’t want to waste the ambulance service’s time”. The NHS says 999 is for life-threatening emergencies like serious road traffic accidents, strokes and heart attacks.
Dialling 111 is recommended when the medical situation does not rise to this severity, but you think medical help is needed right away. The 111 service can direct users to the best place to get help if their GP is unavailable.
It’s unbelievable that a nurse wasn’t on hand, and what? Can’t a doctor clean a wound and apply a plaster? Says everything about the times we live in.
Unless you are on blood thinners, you have no idea. Clotting takes a lot longer, so a cut finger would bleed heavily and not stop. This lady must have been extremely frightened. Worryingly, the places we thought would help us showed so little compassion in this.
Lovely how the surgeries don’t need to be accountable or give their comments due to “patient confidentiality”. Such a suitable cop out on their part.
They could have put disposable gloves on and cleaned it up, then kept her sat in a chair to see if the bleeding had stopped. If not, then got medical advice. The lady is elderly and required help.
So this lady’s neighbour managed to help her when the professionals refused. She just required a plaster and help with putting it on. And also a little compassion and TLC. All are free.
Just do the human thing: help an old lady.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 