Collier Row pensioner’s anger after suffering heart attack and sent to hospital in a mini cab.

A pensioner from Collier Row who suffered a heart attack last August, has hit out at her medical centre after being sent to hospital in a mini cab.

Maureen 77, who had previously suffered a heart attack twenty years ago began feeling unwell and made her way to the practice on North Street.

She told the Havering Daily: “I was in agony, I had a pain between my shoulder blades going up to my arm and my neck. I felt very unwell.

“I went to my surgery and the first difficult part was getting passed the receptionist.

“I managed to see the nurse who gave me an ECG and said it didn’t look too good. She bought it in to see the doctor who came out and told me that I was fine and could go home.”

However, Maureen knew she was very unwell and pressed on asking for help.

“I told the doctor that I felt awful and was in a lot of pain and could not go home. He went off and the receptionist then came out and told me that they did not call the ambulance out, only for extreme circumstances so I was placed in a mini cab and sent to Queen’s hospital.”

At the hospital Maureen had another ECG and was told once again by a nurse that she needed to see a doctor.

“As I had suffered a heart attack before, the nurse told me I had to see the doctor and was unhappy with my ECG results.

“After waiting at A&E I saw a doctor who informed me that I was suffering a heart attack and I was placed in an ambulance and rushed to Barts hospital under blue lights.”

Maureen has since been in hospital four times and has had stents put in.

“No one at my surgery took any notice of me, they told me I could go home and I had to insist that I was unwell and needed to go to the hospital.

“I have had two letters since from my surgery apologising.”

A spokesperson for North Street Medical Care told the Havering Daily: “As we respect and take very seriously our obligations around confidentiality and information governance, we cannot discuss individual cases or confirm whether or not a person is registered with us.”

“However, we always encourage patients to contact us if they have any concerns about our services as this enables us to address them as quickly as possible and provide any follow-up support or advice as appropriate.

“We constantly keep our services under review and patient feedback provides a valuable insight in helping us make changes and improvements.” 

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