Dementia sufferer, 90, forced to wait FIVE HOURS for ambulance to take her to hospital five miles away after smashing head in fall
Frail Joyce Wood was left in agony despite repeated 999 calls by staff at her care home
A DEMENTIA sufferer aged 90 had to wait five hours for an ambulance after she smashed her face in a fall.
Joyce Wood was left in agony despite repeated 999 calls by staff at her care home.
Carers called for an ambulance at 2.21pm on Monday after she fell at the Astbury Lodge Care Home in Great Sutton, Cheshire.
It took more than three and a half hours for a "rapid response vehicle" to arrive and a further 80 minutes before an ambulance finally came to take Mrs Wood to the Countess of Chester Hospital — less than five miles away.
Pictures of Mrs Wood's badly bruised face were released by her son Dave, who sat with her as she waited for paramedics.
He said: “She was distressed and her eye was closing up.
“To my mind an almost 91-year-old woman who has had a bad fall – five hours is too long to wait.
“The paramedics said the people in suits don’t really know what is going on. They said they couldn’t believe what had happened.”
MOST READ IN NEWS
Mrs Wood, who turned 91 today, is a former BT telephonist and civil servant at Chester Town Hall.
Dave said: "Mum has suffered from vascular dementia for about two years so it can be difficult for her to communicate how she is feeling.
"I visit her every day and last night although the swelling has gone down the bruising has got worse."
She was discharged the day after her fall and is recovering at the home.
North West Ambulance Service said: “We are extremely sorry for this delay and completely understand that this is an unacceptable length of time to be waiting for an ambulance.
"Although we would like to get to all of our patients as quickly as possible, unfortunately this is not always possible due to the high demand of ‘red’ life-threatening calls that we are receiving meaning that the Trust must prioritise in order to attend the most seriously ill first.
“On the day of this incident, we were also experiencing challenges with handovers at local hospitals which can also contribute to delays. We understand that waiting for an ambulance is very distressing and as soon as one became available, it was dispatched.”
It comes as the NHS faces a national crisis with ambulances queuing to get into some overwhelmed A&E departments.
Last month the National Audit Office admitted ambulance crews are finding it “increasingly difficult to cope” with rising demand.
Paramedics arrive late to over a third of life-threatening emergencies – with over 2,500 critically ill patients a day waiting more than the eight-minute target for emergency calls.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368