Editorial: Why was gran left in cold?

If a company  is contracted to provide a 24/7 service, that is what it must provide. End of story.

Rotorua Taxis is contracted to provide 24/7 disability transport which means that is what it is obliged to provide but it let local woman Gillian Bryant down badly this week.

The 65-year-old who, because of multiple medical conditions requires a mobility scooter to get around, had to ride her scooter home in the dark and cold after being discharged from Rotorua Hospital. She had been to the emergency department with back problems.

One might think that it wasn't just the taxi company that let her down but also the hospital.

Surely a woman who requires a scooter to get around should not be allowed to just leave a hospital to make her own way home without someone checking she has some way of getting home?

It was dark and very cold on Tuesday night when Mrs Bryant made the 40-minute journey home.

As most residents would know, not all Rotorua streets are equal.

The footpaths and lighting in some parts of our city aren't the best and Mrs Bryant was fortunate to not have come to any harm. One would think that part of hospital care would include ensuring that any patient who was discharged had either someone with them able to take them home or someone to call or would arrange for a patient's transport home, rather than just letting them sort themselves out.

Does the hospital not have some kind of duty, moral or otherwise to ensure the safety of patients?

Apart from the fact that it was very cold, it was night - not a time for anyone, let alone a woman on a mobility scooter, to be out alone.

Shame on all involved.