Man suffering stroke faced three-hour wait for ambulance
A man who suffered a stroke was left waiting more than three hours for an ambulance, his family said.
The man's daughter, Emma Pierce, 32, from Oswestry, said she wanted people to be aware of the situation with ambulance cover in Mid Wales.
Her father, Graham Pierce, 62, from Welshpool, had suffered a stroke at his home on Sunday.
Ms Pierce said that the ambulance service had been called at around 11.50am by her stepmother, with a paramedic finally arriving at 3pm – with another hour before the ambulance arrived to take him to Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.
The ambulance service said its records show it had received its first call at 12.44pm.
Mr Pierce has remained at PRH where his family have not been allowed to visit due to Covid restrictions.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has apologised to Mr Pierce and his family, but Ms Pierce said she was devastated at the length of time it had taken for help to arrive.
She said: "I just want people to know so we can prevent anyone else going through it or someone even losing their life. My big fear is how much more serious it could have been."
She added: "I am just shocked and I want answers. I do not want anyone else to have to be sat there waiting for an ambulance not knowing if it is going to turn up.
"You see the adverts that say 'act fast' but if the response is not going to be fast then what is the point in acting fast?"
Mrs Pierce said she was worried that there could be longer term impacts for her father because of the delay.
Sonia Thompson, the Welsh Ambulance Service's assistant director of operations for its Emergency Medical Service, said: “We were really sorry to hear about the experience of Mr Pierce and would like to extend an apology to him and his family.
“We have experienced significant and well-documented pressures on our ambulance service in recent weeks, which has also been felt by our colleagues in the hospitals, resulting in handover delays. This does mean that regrettably some patients in the community have had to wait longer than we would like for an ambulance.
“We would invite Mr Pierce’s family to get in touch with us directly to better understand their experience, and in the meantime, wish Mr Pierce all the best on his continued recovery.”
