Great-grandmother, 93, lay 'on cold floor for nine hours' while waiting for Birmingham ambulance

A 93-year-old great-grandmother believes politicians need to 'get it right' after she waited 'more than nine hours' for an ambulance in Great Barr, Birmingham.

Beryl Murray broke her leg, after her right leg gave way while she was moving from her walker into a stairlift.

In an interview with ITV New Central, Ms Murray has described what happened, saying: "I was walking with my trolley, because I wanted to go to the bathroom upstairs and I was walking across and I just fell down."

She adds: "I went with such a bang, I knew I had done something."

After falling, Ms Murray was able to reach for her care line alarm, which notified the ambulance service at 5.22pm.

The alert also notified her son Stephen and his wife Wendy, who drove 70 miles from their home in Stonesfield, Oxford.

Mr Murray said: "When I got here, the neighbour Julie was looking after her along with one of the carers.

"My wife and I took over at that point in time and looked after her. I was pretty devastated really.

"To see her in pain and discomfort and embarrassed, it was an embarrassment for her to be in that situation."

Mr Murray said he felt completely helpless and really frustrated.

His mother Ms Murray described the nine hour wait: "I was on a cold floor. They put cushions around me but you couldn't get through to the floor.

"So I was cold, and I was partly sitting up as well. I was just cold.'

She added: "I just felt that I knew I had done something. I was in for a bad time and I was really - disappointed isn't the word - because it just doesn't cover enough.

"Of course, I couldn't move though, I couldn't move at all."

Paramedics arrived more than nine hours later at 2.33am the next morning, she said.

Ms Murray is very grateful for the care she received from the NHS once in hospital but thinks something needs to change.

Ms Murray said: "The care I felt from the NHS I feel happy about, the staff in the ward work hard and I was happy with their service."

"I wish them very well, I mean the surgeons did a magnificent job because it was a long job and something I had never had before.

"I wish them the best of luck and the recognition they deserve"

West Midlands Ambulance Service has issued an apology to Beryl and her family, citing "severe pressure" facing the NHS.

They said the patient's condition had not worsened when follow-up calls were received.

An ambulance service spokeswoman said at the time: "We would like to apologise to Ms Murray and her family for the time it took to reach her.

"The whole of the NHS remains under severe pressure and unfortunately, hospital handover delays mean some patients are waiting far longer for an ambulance to come to them than we would want.

"A paramedic in our control room contacted the patient to check on her condition. The paramedic would have upgraded the call had her condition changed.

"We continue to work with local partners to find ways to reduce the delays so that our crews can respond more quickly. Our staff and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to respond as soon as we can."