AN ELDERLY woman who fell from her bed was left in extreme discomfort, after an ambulance took four hours to arrive, her daughter has claimed.

Gillian Healey, 72, of Oatlands Drive, Slough, was stuck on her bedroom floor for hours after falling on Tuesday, despite summoning an ambulance herself from an Age UK emergency button around her neck.

Daughter, Karen Healey, 50, also of Oatlands Drive, said: “She was waiting for over four hours. She went to bed at 10am, because she wasn’t feeling well, but when she sat down she fell on the floor. She used her emergency pendant to alert Age UK, which sent an ambulance at 10.28am.

“But by noon they still weren’t there. I phoned 999 myself. They said they’d be by, but there had been lots of strokes and heart attacks that day.

“Eventually, I phoned the police, and five minutes later the ambulance had arrived, at 2.20pm.”

Miss Healey said that her mother had only been released from Wexham Park Hospital the day before, where she was being treated for cellulitis and difficulties with her legs.

She added: “My mother is 72, and she was laying on her right arm, which had gone numb. She could have lost her arm, if we hadn’t come to turn her over. You don’t leave an old lady who has wet herself lying there for four hours. It’s not right.”

South Central Ambulance Service said: “We are extremely sorry to hear about this patient’s concerns regarding our response. During the initial call we were advised that the patient concerned had fallen but had sustained no injuries.

“We received a number of calls regarding this patient and, based on the information given, she was categorised as a Category 3 call. We aim to arrive within a maximum of 120 minutes at the location of the incident on 90 per cent of occasions. Our Clinical Support Desk and Emergency Call Takers made numerous attempts to contact the patient. On the final call it was noted that her condition had changed, and a resource was dispatched immediately.”

“Demand on our resources was high on this date, and at the time of this call all our resources were committed to other patients with higher levels of clinical need.

“We would like to unreservedly apologise.”