Fury of burns man's 250-mile journey

Graham Keeley12 April 2012

Furious friends of a man who had to be taken 250 miles for treatment for serious burns today condemned the "failing NHS".

Friends and neighbours risked their lives trying to rescue James Smith from his blazing home only to discover he had to be taken from Southend to hospital in Swansea because there were no specialist beds nearby.

Mr Smith, 33, who is critically ill, spent five hours travelling by ambulance to the south Wales hospital, but it has emerged an air ambulance could have cut his journey time to 90 minutes.

Neighbour Tony Roberts, 37, who tried to save Mr Smith from the fire in his one-bedroom flat, said: "I think it is outrageous that a man has to be taken half way across the country when he is suffering enough."

Another friend, Donna Hockley, 37, said: "This just shows you the chaos that the NHS is in. He might have had much better

treatment sooner if there were beds available locally. It was really annoying that he had to go all the way to Wales to get treatment. It is just typical of the way the NHS is failing."

Mr Smith, who is disabled, suffered serious injuries from smoke inhalation after the fire in the early hours of Monday.

Initially he was taken to Southend hospital then on to Broomfields hospital in Chelmsford which has a specialist burns unit.

However, the hospital only has four beds for burns patients, three of which were occupied and another which could not be used because there were not enough specialist staff. Attempts to find a bed at a specialist London hospital failed so it was decided to transfer Mr Smith to the Morriston hospital in Swansea.

Only after the ambulance set off was it discovered that if officials had waited for one hour more Mr Smith could have been flown to Wales by air ambulance.

A spokesman for Broomfields hospital said that despite the journey it was decided that Mr Smith would get the best treatment at the specialist unit in Swansea.

The blaze is thought to have started after Mr Smith fell asleep while he left food cooking on his stove.

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