This is why there has been outrage today, after it emerged that paramedics taking a heavily pregnant woman to hospital were forced to pull over at a toll booth to pay the £1.70 toll.
Mum-to-be Danielle Ollerhead was left frustrated and panicked when her ambulance to the hospital was held up at the Mersey Tunnel in Liverpool.
According to a report in the Liverpool Echo, frustrated paramedics eventually contacted a manager, who then gave the go-ahead for the ambulance to be let through and continue its dash to the hospital.
Posting a complaint to the ‘Big Up The NHS Network’ Facebook page, the 29-year-old mum-to-be wrote: “What an absolute disgrace these women were, asking our amazing paramedics for £1.70 and actually stopping an ambulance in its tracks on what was classified as an emergency.”
“They would not allow us pass until the paramedics had argued their way through…I am thankful that in those wasted minutes nothing happened and we arrived safely,” she added.
Revealing that she is carrying a child who “requires special care”, she explained how the time spent waiting at the toll booth “could have been the difference between my unborn child’s life, health, death”.
In response to the complaint, Merseytravel’s head of customer delivery said the ambulance had failed notify the booth that it was approaching, which ultimately caused the mix-up. He went on to apologise for the incident, wishing Danielle and her little one well.
