New mum injured during collision with bus feels let down by emergency services and NHS in Milton Keynes

A new mum has described how she feels 'shortchanged' by the lack of care she received after her car was involved in a collision with a bus.

She and the driver of the car were both injured in the crash, which happened at 4.15pm last Tuesday at the T junction outside Stantonbury School.

The bus was carrying schoolchildren and thankfully none of them were injured. But the driver of the car suffered an injured leg and bleeding lip while the mum, who gave birth just eight weeks ago, had a knee injury and seat belt grazes across her chest.

"I was unable to walk on my left leg at the scene. An ambulance was called but never showed up," she said.

"We were then told it’s quicker to drive to A&E with a family member rather than wait hours for an ambulance. Three hours I believe was mentioned as a wait time for an ambulance.

"Police arrived as soon as possible but were unable to speed anything up."

The woman eventually called her brother to ask if he could pick her and the driver up and take them to MK Hospital.

"Otherwise it was apparent we could be left waiting on the roadside for hours," she said.

Upon arrival at A&E reception, we advised them we'd collided with a bus but we were not offered any immediate assistance. No concussion checks were done.

"After waiting around for one and a half hours I had chest pains and requested painkillers. I stopped a triage nurse in her tracks and said I needed to be seen as I was struggling to breathe.

"She checked my oxygen levels and asked me briefly about my injuries and sent me over to get an X-Ray on my leg...I had the X-Ray but was told it’s still a five hour wait for a doctor to provide the results."

The mum had to have her newborn baby brought to the hospital so she could breastfeed her.

"I wasn’t going to wait five hours to be seen with my baby needing feeding regularly so I decided to leave, limping, with my injuries still unknown," she said.

The driver stayed in A&E and she was eventually seen around 9pm by a triage nurse then seen by a doctor at midnight.

"She had to sit around in shock and in pain for all that time following a collision with a bus," said the mum, who returned for her X-Ray results the following morning. Thankfully nothing was fractured or broken.

"The two real issues here are ambulance wait times and the lack of care at A&E for individuals who have been in road traffic accidents.

"I feel really let down It is shocking considering we pay our taxes. I'm a higher tax rate payer and I feel shortchanged by the lack of care I received from our emergency services and NHS."

A spokesman for South Central Ambulance Service said: “Patients are prioritised based on clinical need to ensure the sickest patients receive the care and treatment they require as quickly as possible.

“Unfortunately there will be occasions when this prioritisation means some patients will wait longer, particularly at times of great pressure on the service as we are seeing currently.”

A Milton Keynes University Hospital spokesperson told the Citizen: “We are sorry to hear that your reader did not have a good experience at the hospital. Our Emergency Department has been extremely busy and at times of high demand, this can sometimes mean patients have to wait longer while our teams treat those with life-threatening and critical conditions first.

“Every patient is triaged before being treated to ensure those that need immediate assistance are given priority.

“Our teams continue to work incredibly hard to ensure every patient is given safe and effective care, even at times of immense pressure, and remains open 24/7 to administer urgent and emergency care to any patient who needs it.”

In September, the Emergency Department saw over 13,600 patients, with over 82% being seen within the 4-hour national target.