A SHAKEN pensioner who suffered a fall in Andover's High Street was turned away at Andover War Memorial Hospital because, she claims, she's over 80.

Arriving in an ambulance, Mrs Phyllis Cooke was sent away from both Adelaide Medical Centre and the minor injuries unit (MIU) at Andover Hospital after her head-first fall last week.

She was told she had to go to Winchester's Royal County Hospital.

And she's adamant she was told it was because she is 81. Not so, says the hospital.

It was because she was assessed and a decision was taken that she needed to go to Winchester hospital.

But the pensioner declined an ambulance lift to Winchester because she said she would be forced to fund a taxi ride back to Andover from her weekly pension.

"I think it's wrong that old people who need to be seen in Andover Hospital are not seen," Mrs Cooke said.

Vigo Road resident Mrs Cooke fell over outside Andover Guildhall on 17 February after a visit to collect her pension.

The lifelong Andover resident was left with bruising around her eye, a bruised left wrist and a bruised right knee. An incident report written by a paramedic described her as 'shaken and distressed' and noted that Adelaide Medical Centre (where her GP is based) and the MIU at Andover had sent her away.

"The ambulance people were wonderful and they took me home where my 82-year-old neighbour kept an eye on me.

"It was not their fault that no-one wanted to see me," Mrs Cooke said, who was told she could phone the hospital if the pain worsened.

"This is worrying for other people, especially for someone older than me who could have been more confused," she added.

A spokeswoman for the hospital explained: "The minor injuries unit at Andover War Memorial Hospital is designed for walk-in patients only.

"It is unusual for an ambulance to bring a patient to an MIU because it has been necessary to call 999 and is therefore classed as an emergency.

"The paramedics on the ambulance are fully trained to assess the patient's needs, with a nurse at the unit where the decision will have been made to send her to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester. Then any underlying problems could have been discovered.

"The patient will not have been refused to be seen but will have been assessed by a trained member of staff for the appropriate measure to be taken, in this case, for the patient to go to RHCH."

The spokeswoman added that Adelaide Medical Centre does not have the right equipment such as Xray machines to identify fractures or broken bones - common injuries among elderly people who have fallen.

A spokesman for Hampshire Ambulance Trust said: "There are no set protocols in taking patients to GP surgeries; it has happened before and obviously it's done on a case-by-case basis. As this patient had only sustained minor injuries it was felt a quick look over from the GP would be appropriate."

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser.