Welsh Ambulance Service 'deeply sorry' for almost 24 hr wait for 91 year old woman
The pensioner was forced to wait hours after a fall at a care home in Port Talbot.
The Welsh Ambulance Service says its 'deeply sorry' after a 91 year old woman waited almost 24 hours for an ambulance after a fall at a Port Talbot care home.
The family of Theresa Jones say she was left 'like a piece of rubbish' on the floor at Maes-y-Bryn residential home whilst she was forced to wait for help.
Her loved ones say 999 call operators said the pensioner couldn't be moved or have anything to eat whilst she waited.
She had to be dragged from the corridor on a sheet so she wouldn't trip up other residents.
Her family say what happened was "distressing" and "unacceptable".
The Welsh Ambulance Service say it's not the level of care it wishes to provide to patients - and it's under 'extreme and well documented pressure'.
Sonia Thompson, Assistant Director of Operations (Emergency Medical Service) at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We are deeply sorry about Mrs Jones’ experience, which we know will have been a painful and distressing wait for all involved, including staff at the residential home.
“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.
“We are talking to Mrs Jones’ family directly to better understand their concerns.”