'Third world service': Ambulance bosses apologise over 22-HOUR wait for elderly patient

West Midlands Ambulance Service has apologised to 84-year-old Valerie Garton and her family over the length of the delay, which her son said was like a "third world service".

Steve Garton was out of the country when his mother fell at her Newport home in the early hours of Saturday morning, so was unable to help.

Mrs Garton's husband, John, had called for help at about 1.18am, but it was twenty-two hours later, at 11.22pm, before the ambulance arrived – before a further six-hour wait in the back of the ambulance outside Princess Royal Hospital to be admitted.

Mr Garton had spoken multiple times to his father while they awaited an ambulance, and had eventually become so concerned that he called the police, who sent two officers round to help.

Mrs Garton had spent a significant amount of the time waiting lying on the floor covered by a blanket.

The delay is the latest shocking wait faced by a patient needing an ambulance in the county.

Part of the reason for the delay was Mrs Garton's case being considered a 'Category 3' – calls that are classified as urgent but not immediately life-threatening. It means that other cases, which involve life-threatening situations are prioritised.

Nationally, ambulance trusts are expected to respond to 90 per cent of Category 3 calls within 120 minutes.

In Shropshire the ambulance service has been under increasing strain throughout the winter, with ambulances regularly waiting for nine or more hours to hand over patients at the county's hospitals.

The situation has a knock-on effect, reducing the number of ambulances on the road and available to attend to patients.

Mr Garton said he was shocked at the experience and added that his mother was still in hospital after the incident.

He said: "I am angry and disappointed. It is not with the NHS because the front-line people you meet are amazing. When the ambulance got there they were the usual stellar performance you expect. It is almost the people behind that.

"It cannot be nice being a caring person in the NHS having to let people down."

Mr Garton said the wait experienced by his mother had been the equivalent of a "third world service".

He said: "We seem to be able to find all sorts of things when it matters but this does not matter. There are billions for a Covid pandemic but not enough to support our old people who have supported this country over many years.

"A country that does not support its old people is no country at all."

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Garton and her family for the time it took us to reach her.

“The whole of the NHS remains under severe pressure and, unfortunately, hospital handover delays mean some patients are waiting far longer for an ambulance to come to them than we would want.

“We continue to work with local partners to find ways to reduce the delays so that our crews can respond more quickly.

“Our staff and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to respond as soon as we can.”