Miss Warn has suffered paraplegia for several years, lives in a nursing home, cannot stand and therefore needs assistance to be transferred.

And now she has now been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

The condition is so aggressive that surgeons will perform a mastectomy later this month at Orange hospital.

However, to assist the surgeons in tracing the cancer, Miss Warn needs to undergo scans at a private radiology clinic, the only centre in Orange that can provide this specialised service.

But, Miss Warn, was told that the staff were not allowed to lift patients themselves due to health and safety concerns.

They also did not have a lifting machine to assist her.

One option offered was that Miss Warn call an ambulance on the day of the operation.

The ambulance workers would then be able to transfer her onto the facility’s equipment for the scan and later transfer her to Orange hospital for the surgery.

It places uncertainty on someone who is already undergoing a great deal of trauma and stress regarding her condition.

“The anxiety and distress has been shocking,” she said.

Miss Wan is also concerned for other people with disabilities not being able to receive treatment due to a lack of lifting equipment at the clinic – which is the only one available in Orange with such specialised testing available.

However, it also highlights the pressure on ambulance resources to perform patient transfers.

As Miss Wan rightly says, ambulances are not a taxi service.

The principal role of our ambulance service is to deal with medical emergencies.

Responding to accidents, incidents and emergencies should be their main aim.

There is no money tree for funding the health system but Miss Wan and, one would imagine, other people with disabilities, have been caught up in a loophole.

One area cannot provide the service she needs, requiring her to rely on a service that really is aimed at helping people in different circumstances.

And it has happened at a time when she is less able to cope with it.