“She even asked me to go into the Exhibition Centre and find it out but I knew this would take too long.”
Mr Jones said he continually asked the operator to Google the road and landmarks he described.
He said: “The situation was blackly comic. The man seemed to be getting worse. It is a small pedestrian street, Google would have automatically corrected her mistake but she told me she wasn’t trained to do that.
“Quite frankly, that is absurd, we would have resolved everything in seconds with a quick search.”
The incident has rained concerns about whether operators are adequately trained and have the correct tools to do their job.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, has called for staff training and procedures to be reviewed.
She said: “The outcomes for the treatment of patients in hospital often depends on an ambulance service that responds as quickly and safely as possible when called.
“It’s just not acceptable that a 999 operator was not able to locate an address as these calls are frequently life and death situations in which every second counts. We hope this serious error will be addressed immediately.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Call takers do not have internet access. They are trained to use our own software and mapping system which is built into our control room software.
“There was difficulty confirming the precise location where the ambulance was required, despite efforts from both the caller and the call taker.
“The patient was taken to hospital, although he was not in a serious condition.”
“We monitor the quality of service our call takers provide and will be reviewing this incident with the staff member involved.”
