A man who suffered a fall was forced to wait for over 17 hours on the floor, unable to move.
David Robinette, 68, had fallen over at Springholme Care in Anglesey, North Wales at around 7pm on December 15. But by Friday morning, December 16, he was still in the same position as an ambulance had still not arrived.
Worried sister, Lynne Gillespie, who lives in West Derby, said her brother is "not a well man" and branded the wait as "absolutely disgusting". On Tuesday morning, the wait had been over 15-hours, and there was still no insight as to when he would be seen to.
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She told the ECHO : "He's an insulin dependent diabetic and has onset Parkinson's and dementia that's why he's in the care home. He's lying on the floor, peeing himself and I'm so stressed out. I was only there last week to see him before Christmas."
The 68-year-old was living independently until his health deteriorated and he struggled with his balance. After falling over 12-months ago and being rushed to hospital, he moved into the care home so he could be helped with mobility.
But around 7pm on Thursday, he had fallen over when trying to get up for some batteries. Lynne said: "The care home called me about 7.20pm saying he had fallen. He needs support all the time but tried to do it himself. Care homes are busy and there's other residents God love them, unfortunately they haven't got the staff.
"But his legs went underneath him, as they do and he had fallen near the television stand. We don't know if he's banged his head but he has pains in his knees, arms, back and neck and the ambulance service have told them not to move him.
"He's still waiting now, he's really not a well man. I was worried last week when I went to see him. It's not just down the road, if it was I'd be straight there but I wouldn't be able to do anything.
"It's absolutely ridiculous. Others are probably in the same position but to be on the floor for 15-hours, I feel like crying. I wish I could go pick him up."
Originally being told the wait would be 12 hours, Lynne said they were still calling the Welsh Ambulance Service calling for an update. She said: "My daughter has been calling them, they are calling the care home every so often asking if his condition has worsened but it's not good enough.
"Get there and get him to hospital. This could lead to other complications. How is it right? I just want to make people aware of what is going on, elderly people are being left on the floor. It's not right. It's horrible for it to happen to anyone but when it happens to your own family, it's horrific. We need to bring attention to this."
However, after 18-hours of lying on the floor, Lynne was called to say staff had tried to get him up and in his wheelchair as the ambulance would still not be there. As of 1pm on Friday, they were still waiting for an ambulance.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has apologised for long delays as they say it is as "frustrating for us as it is for patients". Chief Executive Jason Killens added that hospital handover delays remain the single biggest reason for long waiting times.
He said: "Emergency ambulances are to deliver life-saving interventions and quickly transport patients to hospital for further treatment, so it’s as frustrating for us as it is for patients when we can’t deliver that part of our service. We sincerely apologise to all patients and their families who experience long delays during their time of need.
"The average response time for a life-threatening ‘Red’ call in October was 10 minutes, while we didn’t meet the target, we did get to more patients in eight minutes compared to October 2021, when there was 10% less Red demand. Unfortunately, hospital handover delays remain the single biggest reason we cannot get to some patients quickly.
"In excess of a third of our total emergency fleet capacity is being lost to system pressure delays at emergency departments each month, this prevents our fleet from being able to respond to calls despite record investment and growth in our service and the delivery of internal efficiencies."
He added: "We continue to do what we can to alleviate pressure by treating and triaging more patients over the telephone and in the community and referring them to other parts of the NHS, away from the Emergency Department. A new roster system will ensure that our finite resources are better aligned to demand, now and in the future, and we are working hard to see up to 100 additional frontline workers operational from late January.
"In anticipation of a really difficult winter, the public can help by only calling 999 in a serious or life-threatening emergency – help protect our precious resources for those who need us most. We invite Mr Robinette and his family to contact our Putting Things Right team so that we can investigate the incident further."
At the time of publication, an ambulance had still not arrived.
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