Disabled man's anger at three hour wait for ambulance as he lay in agony at Aylesbury home

A disabled man was made to wait three hours after a 999 call, then to add insult to injury he was made to find his own way home as the transport service broke down en route after his operation, leaving him stranded in Oxford for six hours.

Three years ago, Grahame Galley broke his hip after falling down a flight of stairs.

His leg was pinned in FIVE places as it was shattered by the fall. After several painful operations the replacement hip disintegrated leaving him imobilised and needing corrective surgery.

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Last Sunday, Mr Galley slipped in the bathroom of his house and managed to break his hip again – prompting him to call 999.

Registered disabled, Mr Galley, from Fowler Road, said: “I slipped over and hit my hip – it was absolute agony.

“I just about crawled into the bedroom and propped myself up on the bed. The pain was excruciating, I was desperate to get to the hospital and get it sorted.

“Times are hard and I understand the services are under a lot of pressure, but I just kept waiting and waiting.

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“I must have called them ten times to find out where they were.

“My ex-missus and my daughter luckily came to help me, without them I would have been stuffed.

“Three hours later, they finally rocked up.

“I kept calling and calling but they just told me another one was on its way. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

Mr Galley says he was then told his operation would take place at Wycombe – but after a lengthy delay he was diverted to Oxford to sort things out.

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He added: “The operation went well and I was out by about 2pm – they had promised to take me back to Aylesbury.

“But I was still there at 8pm in the evening – I had to make my own way home. The whole thing from top to bottom was a shambles.”

“I’m registered disabled and this was extremely distressing to be made to wait.

“Luckily one of my friends came to pick me up, after six hours of promise after promise that the lift was just around the corner.”

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South Central Ambulance service was approached for a comment but they were unavailable. This newspaper also approached Bucks Healthcare for comment but they said that Mr Galley’s treatment and the circumstances surrounding that day were nothing to do with them.

Mr Galley added: “I think it’s disgusting keeping a man with his hip popped out wait for an ambulance for three hours.

“I rang them three times, it defintely doesn’t take three hours to get from Stoke Mandeville to Aylesbury, I am 
really disappointed,” he added.

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