Woman waited 10 hours in ambulance at Derriford Hospital

A health trust has apologised to a woman who spent 10 hours in the back of an ambulance waiting to be seen at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital.

Lorraine Warren, 61, from Saltash, was taken to hospital after falling unwell on 2 January.

She waited with paramedics for 10 hours before she was handed over to A&E staff.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said: "We apologise for the wait this patient experienced."

Those arriving at the hospital by ambulance are facing the longest handover delays in England.

David Wood, Ms Warren's fiance, told BBC Radio Devon their experience was "horrendous".

"[It was] very uncomfortable, stressful and not good for her when she needed urgent treatment," he said.

"It's not good for the ambulance crews either because they are not doing the jobs they want to do, which is being out on the road helping people."

Ms Warren suffers from conditions affecting her liver and stomach which Mr Wood said could cause her to go into a coma if not treated quickly.

Her 10-hour wait to be seen came during a "critical incident" at Derriford Hospital which officials said was in response to severe pressure.

According to NHS data released last week, nearly 80% of patients at hospitals in Plymouth waited longer than 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E staff between 25 and 31 December.

It should only take 15 minutes.

A University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust spokesperson said the situation had since improved at Derriford Hospital.

"Waiting times in the first week in January were one of the reasons we called a critical incident," she said.

"This enabled us and partners to implement additional measures which help reduce waits for emergency patients and ensure patients are seen in the right place at the right time.

"We stood down the latest critical incident earlier this week [Tuesday] when the situation had improved."

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