By Mark McLaughlin

A SEVERELY disabled Tayport girl in a full body cast was left in a corridor for several hours while waiting in vain for an ambulance to take her home from Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

When an ambulance did arrive to take eight-year-old Kerry Liddle—who is in full body plaster after recent surgery to correct hips that had been twisted through cerebral palsy—home, the crew refused to take her wheelchair with her.

Furious nurses at the hospital were then forced to call a taxi to enable the youngster and her mother Lynne to get home.

Kerry was transferred to Ninewells by ambulance on Thursday afternoon to treat sores that had developed beneath the cast. She was treated within an hour and they were asked to wait in a corridor until a transfer could be arranged.

However, the mother and daughter were still there four hours later when the ward closed and they were transferred to a waiting room in the children’s ward.

When an ambulance eventually arrived two hours later the driver told Lynne they were unable to accommodate Kerry’s specially-adapted wheelchair.

Lynne said, “I was furious. They said they could take us home but not the wheelchair, but I told them absolutely not. It would be like leaving Kerry’s own legs behind.

“I can’t understand why an ambulance was able to take us to Ninewells, including the wheelchair, and not take us home again.”

Exasperated Ninewells nurses eventually called for a taxi and asked Lynne to charge it to the hospital’s account.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said the reason for the unusually long delay in sourcing an ambulance transfer was down to more pressing emergencies in the city.

He added, “While this child’s injuries were clearly uncomfortable and upsetting for the family, they were not life threatening.

“When what we term a ‘doctor’s urgent’ call is made to transfer a patient to hospital for treatment, the control room has to take into account the seriousness of the incident and the availability of ambulances in the area.

“It would not be wise to remove an emergency vehicle from rotation for the duration of the trip from Ninewells to Tayport until all of the more serious calls had been dealt with.

“However, what is not clear is why the ambulance refused to take the child home without her wheelchair.

“We will investigate this with the crew and will be in touch with Mrs Liddle in due course once this has been established and if an apology is deemed necessary it will be issued immediately.”

Shona Singers, head of communications for NHS Tayside, said the incident was a matter of extreme concern.

She added, “I can totally understand why this mother is concerned. To wait six hours for an ambulance, only to be told when it turns up that it can’t accommodate a wheelchair, is really unacceptable.”