Husband 'disgusted' by treatment unconscious wife received from ambulance in Ruthin

The husband of a woman who needed emergency treatment after falling unconscious at home says he is "disgusted" by the treatment his wife received.

Anita Jackson-Wyatt collapsed at home on Thursday (May 5), prompting husband Christopher to call an ambulance.

However, Christopher claims it took an ambulance three hours to arrive and when it did crews were "not prepared" for the the treatment his 64-year-old wife needed.

Christopher claims his wife was dropped on the floor after paramedics showed up at the couple's home in Ruthin.

Anita also then contracted coronavirus after being admitted to hospital.

Both the Welsh Ambulance Service and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said they are "sorry to hear about Mrs Jackson-Wyatt’s experience" and said they have been in touch with the family to investigate the concerns.

Mr Jackson-Wyatt, who is a carer for his wife who has stage four kidney failure, said: "I phoned the ambulance four times, and they came out three hours later but she was really unwell.

"They got her up onto the chair and took her into the back of the ambulance but when they tried to transfer her onto the bed they dropped her onto the floor.

"She's still unresponsive at this point, and they were struggling to lift her but they're supposed to be experienced and be prepared for these types of things.

"When she was in the back of the ambulance she had no privacy, the doors were open and all the neighbours could see, it was disgusting."

Having become his wife's carer in recent years, Christopher said the past few weeks have been some of the toughest of their 44 years of marriage.

He continued: "I get very emotional because we're so close, people say we're joined at the hip and we're never anywhere without each other.

"I can't sleep, I keep having flashbacks of what happened out there. It's all getting the better of me now, it's just one thing after another.

"I have to say the nurses on ward five have been great with me and they said they understand what I'm going through and will try and keep me updated. But it's been terrible, and now she's got Covid, what else can go wrong?"

Anita was transferred to the Countess of Chester Hospital on Saturday for an emergency procedure on her kidney, but has since returned to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, where she is receiving treatment.

Wendy Herbert, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s executive director of quality and nursing, said: “We were really sorry to hear about Mrs Jackson-Wyatt’s experience, and are already in direct contact with her husband to better understand their concerns and look into their claims.

"We would like to extend our thoughts and best wishes to Mrs Jackson-Wyatt on her continued recovery.”

Gill Harris, executive director of integrated clinical services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mrs Jackson-Wyatt’s experience. We have contacted Mr Jackson-Wyatt so that we can investigate his concerns.”