Health chiefs have been forced to apologise after an 83-year-old woman was turned away from a hospital for being too old.
Susan Halbert, 83, from Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, fell outside her home and broke her arm in two places.
Paramedics were called and took her Gasglow’s New Victoria Hospital, but she was told doctors would not see her because she was over 65.
The pensioner was then taken to A&E at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where, after a four-hour wait, she was given a splint and sent home.
The New Victoria has a minor injuries unit which is equipped to deal with limb injuries.
Mrs Halbert, who is still wearing a brace on her arm, said: ‘I’ve never experienced anything like it. The paramedics were lovely. They came straight away and couldn’t be more helpful. Unfortunately that didn’t continue.
‘They took me to the Victoria and we went inside, only for the receptionist to explain that I couldn’t be seen because I was over the age of 65.
‘Rather than be able to go and help other people, the paramedics instead had to take me to the Queen Elizabeth, which was so busy I had to wait four hours to be triaged and another two hours to be treated.’
Mrs Halbert, added: ‘The paramedics were as stunned as I was. They even told me they had never heard of someone being too old for treatment before.
I was very cross at the time because I was there with my arm broken in two places and there was this woman on reception who wasn’t even a doctor telling me I couldn’t go in.
‘We are all people. Whether someone is one or 101, we all deserve to be treated the same and not like second-class citizens.’
