No-Help Service...

Recovering . . . accident victim Allan Stuart nursing his injuries

A pensioner, injured after falling in a health centre car park, was told he would have to go elsewhere for treatment.

Allan Stuart had cuts to his right hand, left knee and bruised ribs after tumbling outside Uppermill Health Centre.

But when his wife helped him into the centre, where he was going to book a routine appointment, he was told there was no-one available to treat his injuries.

Still shocked from his ordeal, Mr Stuart, a 72-year-old retired accountant, is recovering at his Diggle home. He said: “I find it unbelievable.

“I am angry and frustrated by a system that can let this kind of thing happen.”

Mr Stuart, who has been a patient at the medical practice for 40 years, visited the centre with his wife Lesley, a retired pharmacy secretary at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

He walked a few yards from the centre’s car park to make an appointment for a blood test, when he fell face down.

Mrs Stuart (61), who had left their car to take their dog for a walk, said: “I saw a pair of feet sticking out from under a car and realised it was my husband.

“He had fallen heavily but, with the help of passers-by, we managed to get him on his feet and into the centre.”

Mr Stuart, who suffers from arthritis and has had a hip replacement said: “The centre was quite full of people. I was in a state of shock and bleeding.

“We made our way to the reception desk and asked a lady if there was a nurse available or anyone to help me. She said there was no one available. I just wanted someone to clean and bandage my wounds.

“I couldn’t believe it. So I asked her again and was advised to go to the Go To Doc in Shaw Road, Oldham.”

The couple drove to Shaw Road where they were told the surgery only operated outside normal hours and directed them to Oldham’s accident and emergency unit.

“I was fed up,” said Mr Stuart. “I was still bleeding. In the end, Lesley drove me back to Uppermill and bought bandages, lint and lotion from a chemist across the road from the medical centre.”

A spokesman at the medical centre said: “We are holding a full investigation.

“It is usual in cases where medical staff are not around to help that we would advise patients to go directly to accident and emergency.”