The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service has apologised after a PSNI officer knocked off his bicycle by a car in Belfast waited for over two hours for paramedics to arrive.
The collision happened in the Belmont Road area at around 3pm on Sunday.
The officer was struck by a Renault Clio and despite a 999 call being made at 3.09pm, an ambulance did not arrive at the scene until 5.12pm.
The officer was taken to hospital for treatment to a non-life threatening injury.
The driver of the vehicle, a male in his 50s, failed a breath test at the scene and during arrest he struck out at another officer.
He was detained on suspicion of driving while unfit, careless driving causing grievous bodily injury, assault on police and resisting arrest, and was later released on bail pending further enquiries.
PSNI Sergeant Gary Jackson said: “My thoughts are with our colleague who has our full support as he recovers from this injury. As part of our enquiries, we are appealing for information and would appreciate anyone who was in the Belmont Road and Belmont Avenue areas at this time and witnessed this collision, or who would have dash-cam or doorbell footage, to call us on 101.”
In a statement on Monday, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said the incident was prioritised as a “category 2″ call, which usually requires an 18-minute response.
A spokesperson said the delay in responding was caused by “challenges faced at the time of the call”.
“NIAS would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the patient for the delay in responding to their need,” they said.
“NIAS has been highlighting for a number of years that we have been unable to respond to calls within set targets, and regrettably this has continued during the past year.
The reasons it has not been possible to respond to all calls within these target times are the acknowledged fact that we have insufficient operational staff to meet the level of demand, and the challenges faced across the entire HSC system and the impact of Emergency Department pressures being reflected in delayed handovers.
“These delays impact on our ability to respond to emergency calls within the community. NIAS continues to work with colleagues in other Trusts to find solutions to the issue of delayed handovers.”
They insisted the NIAS will continue to work with Stormont’s Department of Health over ambulance capacity, and said the service welcomes “the investment provided to secure 48 additional paramedics, many of which will join us, in the Autumn, following their graduation from the Ulster University B.Sc in Paramedicine degree course”.
They added: “NIAS would also like to take this opportunity to apologise to any patients who have faced prolonged waits having contacted us. We will continue to prioritise calls to ensure that the most clinically urgent calls receive the fastest response.”
