Mix-up causes spot of hover bother

Published on Thursday 16 July 2009 22:01

AN ADDRESS mix-up led to an air ambulance being sent to a remote island to help a patient who lives within walking distance of a hospital.

NHS 24 requested an ambulance to go to Fladda Road in Oban but as the patient waited, a helicopter rushed to Fladda, on the isle of Luing, Argyll.

When the crew failed to find their patient, a call to their base confirmed a land ambulance should have been sent 20 miles away to the address in Oban, round the corner from the town's hospital.

Fiona Rogers, of Luing, Argyll, said: "It was quite exciting, it landed just in front of our house.

"It landed very close to where it thought it was going and then established that there wasn't anybody ill there.

"Then their mobile phone wouldn't work and they asked if anyone had a land line, so they came to my house to use the phone."

She added: "There is a collection of houses called Fladda on Luing, but I understand they should have been going to Fladda Road in Oban."

Luing resident Jane MacLachlan said it was ironic that islanders had requested an air ambulance recently when a woman fell ill – but could not get urgent assistance because they did not know the exact postcode of the incident.

Mrs MacLachlan said: "I think it's awful. When a woman was ill at church, we phoned the ambulance service and were asked for the postcode. I said I could give them the postcode of the island school, but they said they needed the postcode of the church, which we didn't know."

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: "An air ambulance helicopter was dispatched to Luing as a result of human error.

"As soon as the error was identified, an ambulance was dispatched to the patient in Oban, who was quickly treated and transferred to Oban hospital, none the worse for the delay.

"The incident is being thoroughly reviewed internally to ensure this does not happen again."

He could not confirm the cost of the call-out, on 6 July, but said that it would be in the region of a few thousand pounds. The spokesman said the call had come from an NHS 24 operator, who had given the correct information, and added the error was the ambulance service's fault.