Amputee left in agony for SIX HOURS as ambulance pulled over for NOT HAVING MOT

AN amputee endured an agonising six-hour wait after the ambulance he was travelling in was pulled over by police - for having no MOT. 

An amputee was left waiting for 6 hours after an ambulance was pulled over my the police

Dave Chalcroft, 53, was forced to wait with no pain relief for a replacement ambulance from 150 miles away. 

The patient, who had surgery after developing a diabetic ulcer, was being moved to Bridgend's Princess of Wales Hospital from Southampton General Hospital when the ambulance was halted on the M4. 
He was "over the moon" at the prospect of being moved to a hospital nearer to his family in Wales. 

But he called the incident "an absolute embarrassment".
He said: "The policeman said it was the weirdest thing he'd had to do, pulling an NHS ambulance over.
"I was gobsmacked, and asked him whether he was having a laugh."
"He'd checked the ANPR [Automatic Number Plate Recognition] system four times and it definitely had no MOT.

Dave Chalcroft had to wait for a replacement ambulance from 150 miles away

“I felt sorry for the two girls transporting me, they just did not know what to do when we got pulled over.

"I just want people to know about what is a massive failure of our NHS. What an absolute embarrassment."
Mr Chalcroft’s replacement ambulance had to come all the way from Kent leaving him stranded for six hours.

Mr Chalcroft called the incident "an absolute embarrassment"

He said: “In the six or so hours it took to get me from Southampton to Bridgend I had no food and only a very small amount of medication after I’d been suffering for a while in Swindon.

"I spent my time strapped to an ambulance bed that is not built for a man of my size to lay on for that length of time.”
He is still recovering in hospital, had his leg amputated below the knee after developing a diabetic ulcer while working on the Isle of Wight.

He said: "They didn’t have specialists on the Isle of Wight so I was transferred to Southampton, and in days it went from me needing two toes amputated, to just below the ankle, and then four inches above the ankle.
“When I came out of the operation, it had been amputated to four inches below the knee.
“It was all very traumatic, even for a tough bloke like me, and it was difficult for my wife and daughters travelling back and forth from Bridgend to visit me.
“When they said I could be transferred I was over the moon.”

He said South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) offered no apology until they were contacted about his ordeal.

Mr Chalcroft ’s replacement ambulance had to come all the way from Kent

Mr Chalcroft believes the trauma and lack of care had a detrimental effect on his recovery.
SCAS said it was "extremely concerned" by the incident and was "conducting a thorough investigation as a matter of urgency".