Woman, 83, left waiting for three hours with broken hip

AN 83-YEAR-OLD woman was left lying next to a road for three and a half hours with a broken hip, shoulder and elbow after falling over.

The woman fell in Frog Lane in Holt, Wrexham, on Thursday, before her neighbours called for an ambulance.

She was left waiting in the road and later on the pavement after being moved by residents, according to a family member, despite the operator being told she had a suspected broken hip and a known medical condition.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said a crew arrived after three hours and 36 minutes, and said it was “deeply sorry” for the delay and it was not the level of service it “wishes to provide to patients”.

Locals helped the woman as best they could, but she did not have any pain relief while waiting.

The family said there were then further delays to discharge her at the hospital and she was not admitted until 1am, more than eight hours after her fall.

They have chosen not to reveal the woman’s name.

A relative said: “The length of wait for both ambulance and discharge to hospital ward is unacceptable.

“The elderly lady is known to have a medical condition that should have prioritised her care.

“Notwithstanding these priorities it is horrific to wait so long. Why did it take so long for emergency services to arrive? Why wasn’t a road closure put in place?

“If an ambulance couldn’t attend, why couldn’t an emergency response paramedic be sent to at least assess the individual and provide pain relief?

“Can you imagine what it must be like for an 83-year-old to lie by the road with traffic driving past with no pain relief for hours, all the time while suffering with a broken hip, elbow and shoulder?

“It is horrific and an experience you would not wish upon your worst enemy. People deserve better service and the wider public have an interest to learn the true state of public services.”

Steve Williams, interim service manager for emergency medical services in North Wales at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We are deeply sorry to hear about the patient’s experience, which we know will have been a painful and distressing wait for all involved.

“This is not the level of service we wish to provide to patients.

“Our ambulance service is under extreme and well-documented pressure as a result of wider system pressures across the NHS.

“Like us, hospital colleagues are working at full capacity at a time when flow across the system is severely constrained.

“This often leads to our vehicles being held up at hospitals, which in turn means that other patients in the community have a long wait for help, sometimes many hours.

“We’re working as an organisation and a wider system to actively explore solutions, as the current situation is untenable for patients and staff across health and social care.

“As an ambulance service, we’re thinking very differently about the way we deliver services in future, and we are already testing some new ways of working across Wales to understand how we can relieve some of the pressure in the system while continuing to provide patients with the care they need.”

He added: “We invite the patient and their family to contact our Putting Things Right team directly to discuss their concerns.”