Highnam woman, 90, waits 23 hours for ambulance after stairs fall

A 90-year-old grandmother waited for 23 hours for an ambulance after she fell down the stairs and broke her hip.

Jean Stringer was forced to lie on the floor from 15:30 GMT on Boxing Day until 14:45 the following day.

Her family said she was in so much pain they could not move her while they waited at her home, near Gloucester.

South Western Ambulance Service apologised for the delay, which was followed by a four-hour wait in an ambulance at Gloucester Royal Hospital.

Mrs Stringer, from Highnam, has since been treated in a corridor of the trauma and orthopaedic ward ahead of a hip operation.

It comes as the South Western Ambulance Service (SWAS) declared a critical incident, adding there was a surge in demand after the Christmas holiday.

It is the second time in less than two weeks SWAS has declared a critical incident after facing "extreme demand".

It said nearly 500 people were waiting for an ambulance on 28 December.

Deputy director of operations and strategic commander for SWAS, Wayne Darch, said that in comparison to last November the call volume had gone up 46%.

"In comparison to last November we are dealing with an extra 1,300 emergency calls every day.

"We know that we have got Covid, flu and other winter illnesses that are circulating this year which is adding to the system pressures that already exist."

Mrs Stringer's granddaughter Rachel Walter, who works for the NHS as a practice nurse, called an ambulance at 15:47 but told BBC Radio Gloucester she was not told what time it would arrive.

"[My grandmother] was in an awful lot of pain, we couldn't move her," said Mrs Walter.

"We made her as comfortable as we could, got some pillows around her and kept her warm and waited."

Mrs Walter said a community first responder arrived at the house around 20:00, who stayed with the family for three hours, but the responder could not provide her grandmother with pain relief.

At 07:30 the next morning, Mrs Walter called the emergency services again, but they still could not say when an ambulance would arrive.

Finally at 14:44, an ambulance arrived but the paramedics did not realise Ms Stringer had been on the floor for so long.

When Ms Stringer arrived at the hospital just after 16:00, she had to wait inside the ambulance for four hours.

Mrs Walter said: "The paramedics were absolutely amazing guys, so helpful, but the service itself is just absolutely stretched.

"It's so soul-destroying for all the nurses, the paramedics and the doctors who are working their socks off and doing the best they can."

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust apologised for the experience Mrs Stringer endured.

"Our ambulance clinicians strive every day to deliver their best care for patients, but our performance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, partly due to handover delays at emergency departments," a spokesperson said.

"Health and social care services are under enormous pressure. We are working with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive."

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