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Man Forced to Call 111 for Help - From Hospital Bed

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 August 2005, 15:01 CDT

A PATIENT in an isolation ward at Auckland Hospital had to ring 111 on his bedside phone to attract the attention of a nurse.

The patient could not contact hospital staff after dropping his buzzer and phoned emergency services last Sunday morning.

Ambulance officers said the man told them he had not been seen for hours. He called out but no one had heard him and he wanted to see a nurse.

Auckland St John Ambulance spokesman Charlie Bougher said they asked him to stay on the line while they rang the hospital switchboard and contacted the nurse nearest his ward, but the man hung up before they could tell him help was on the way.

Bougher said it was unusual to receive a 111 call from a public hospital, but not uncommon from smaller private hospitals and rest homes.

"We usually manage to ring on the outside line and get someone and point them in the right direction, though a couple of times we have had to go and bang on the door," he said. "Often they are only wanting their pillows fluffed or a cup of tea."

Hospital manager Nigel Murray said staff were investigating.

- Greg Meylan

Source: Sunday Star - Times; Wellington, New Zealand

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