Woman waits almost two hours for ambulance on 'incredibly busy' day
A woman was left lying on a pavement waiting for an ambulance for an hour and three quarters because of a rise in 999 calls to the service.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it experienced the same amount of calls it would normally expect to have on New Years Eve during Monday.
Members of the public went to the woman's aid when she slipped in Mill Street in Ludlow on Monday morning.
They rang 999 and covered her to keep her warm while they waited for the ambulance.
Ludlow councillor, Andy Boddington said: "It took an hour and 44 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. It shows that there is a real problem with the NHS."
When an ambulance arrived the woman was taken to Hereford County Hospital for treatment for a head injury.
Murray MacGregor from West Midlands Ambulance apologised to the patient for her distress.
"It was an incredibly busy day. We received 36 per cent more calls than we expected, more than a third," he said.
"We had to prioritise the most serious cases. For instance we had two cardiac arrests in 10 minutes in Oswestry."
Mr MacGregor said that 18 ambulances were held up outside hospitals for more than an hour, with one for two hours and 22 minutes.
"The whole system is incredible busy and we can only appeal to people to use services such as minor injuries and Shropdoc. People should make sure they do what they can to keep healthy and use the health service wisely. Having a flu jab can make a huge difference."
