A WOMAN was called in urgently to Wycombe Hospital after a test result showed she could be in danger of organ failure or falling into a coma.
But she then had to travel half an hour for treatment to another hospital - only to be left with a seven hour wait unmonitored in A&E.
Claire Woodward, 27, now diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and her family, have hit out at the lack of treatment at Wexham Park from just before midnight on March 1.
The family said a consultant at Wycombe Hospital later told them she should have been assessed and re-tested every two hours while at Wexham Park.
Claire, who works at a care home, also feel let down by the fact her closest hospital was unable to give her the treatment she required.
After having a blood test at her GP surgery on March 1, Bucks Urgent Care rang her about 9pm and said she must come immediately to Wycombe Hospital because her result of 41 was seriously high.
Diabetes UK's advice states that in such a state, when no insulin is being produced by the body, it can lead to increased blood acidity (DKA or ketoacidosis) which can be fatal and can lead to a coma, unless urgent medical attention is received.
With the necessary treatment unavailable at Wycombe, Claire, of Field Road, High Wycombe, was driven by her mum to Wexham Park. After being given a blood test on arrival by a triage nurse she waited unassesed in A&E for nearly seven hours.
She said a consultant at Wycombe Hospital was deeply unhappy that with the lack of treatment and testing at Wexham, when she saw him a couple of days after.
"He couldn't believe that I was made to wait over six hours," she said.
"To be left like that, all sorts of things were going on in my mind, it wasn't very nice at all, it was quite scary."
On Wycombe Hospital she said: "I thought I could've been seen there and then rather than Wexham, which is way out of my way. "What’s happened (with the diabetes) is a major thing in my life, our local hospital wasn't there for me, as such, I was just sent away from my home town where I live. I feel let down."
Her dad Mr Derek Woodward, 54, a lorry driver said: "It's frightening really to think what could have happened to her knowing now what the high level can mean." The family said they felt she had been neglected that night.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it is sorry to hear of the dissatisfaction experienced by Ms Woodward regarding her visit to A&E on Friday 1 March. A statement read: “In situations of this kind, patients are triaged and seen in the order of clinical priority. When experiencing a high number of visitors to A&E, as we were at this particular time, all patients are assessed and managed appropriately for their clinical condition. “The Trust urges Ms Woodward to contact our Patient Relations department to enable us to discuss her concerns in more detail.”
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