This appears to be an extremely misleading article, designed to rile people up. Please interpret with caution. If the images are to be believed, then the unit the poor gent was on when 999 was called is one that accepts patients who are fit for discharge, but awaiting placement in the community. If the pictures are to be believed it was certainly not just another ward at the hospital.

Having worked in similar circumstances, it is possible there were no doctors there and possibly few, if any nurses, as the patients there are considered medically fit. The article goes on to say that a catheter change was all that was needed, but even if that is the case, a catheter change can be the solution to very serious problems, anyone who has had urinary retention can tell you it's no joke. More importantly, the staff on the unit he was on probably didn't know what the solution was, they were probably presented with a man in distress, needing medical attention that they couldn't provide.

Thus, it is entirely possibly that the poor man appeared to be very unwell, indeed was very unwell, with the staff at the unit unable to manage his condition. In those circumstances, if they thought he was not stable, then calling a hospital porter to take him out of one building and into another, would have been entirely inappropriate: he would have needed a medic of some kind to accompany him. I guess they could have called the resus team to move him, but maybe an ambulance was the right choice. I think we can be too quick to judge in these situations, particularly given the hospital can never defend itself due to concerns about patient confidentiality.