9:09am Monday 21st August 2006
By Rosalind Miles
A woman is angry deliveries of oxygen vital to her pain relief have been botched up.
Abby White, 29, has eye cancer and suffers nightly cluster headaches which can only be relieved with daily doses of oxygen.
Her usual weekly delivery of oxygen has been delayed twice since Allied Respiratory was given a national contract to deliver supplies by the Department of Health.
On August 8, Miss White's oxygen was not delivered and she was promised it would arrive the following day. When it did arrive she found it was the wrong type and was told the prescription form from her doctor had a mistake on it - even though the same form had been adequate for the previous deliveries.
She then had to contact her doctor to ask him to fill out a new form, which she was later told was also not correct. After hours on the phone pleading for the oxygen to be delivered it finally arrived at 2am.
Then, last Tuesday, the oxygen was not delivered again and she had to wait until late afternoon the next day for it to arrive.
Miss White, of Boundary Brook Road, Oxford, said: "It was such a mess up. Their attitude was so laid back, I was absolutely appalled. They seemed to have no idea how important it was for me to get the oxygen and didn't seem to care.
"I had to kick up such a fuss to get the oxygen delivered. I was on the phone every hour calling and calling to see what was happening to make sure it was sorted out.
"Luckily I had an emergency supply of oxygen at home which I was able to use last Tuesday night. For an older person with emphysema there could be very serious consequences.
"And more vulnerable people, especially the elderly, would find it much more stressful having to complain and push for something to be done. Often illnesses are aggravated by stress.
"When the driver arrived at 2am, he had been driving without a break since the morning and was supposed to finish at 5pm. Someone who is exhausted should not be driving volatile explosive substances around, that's how accidents happen."
Miss White had been delivered oxygen for the past five years through Boots pharmacy without any problems.
Now she has written a letter of complaint to Allied Respiratory and Oxford City Primary Care Trust (PCT).
Staff at the Trust said they have not yet received a letter of complaint from Miss White but would investigate the matter.
Spokesman Melanie Proudfoot said: "Obviously this shouldn't have happened and we want to ensure it doesn't happen again. We will be looking into the matter urgently and talking to Allied Respiratory. We are extremely sorry for the problems Miss White has suffered and we will contact her to ensure it doesn't happen again.
"We take all complaints seriously. We will keep her informed of the outcome of this matter."
Sue Brooker, of Allied Respiratory, said: "Once we have received her letter we will conduct a full investigation."
Miss White is a volunteer charity worker. She has been featured in the Oxford Mail previously as she raised funds for a four year old African girl Gorata Poonyane who suffers from eye cancer to have treatment in America
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