Bridgend gran, 84, waited 30 hours with broken hip for ambulance that never came

  • ITV Wales' Health Reporter Katie Fenton spoke to Meryl's son, Andrew Coates.

An 84-year-old grandmother from Bridgend waited more than 30 hours for an ambulance that never came after falling and breaking her hip over the weekend.

Meryl Coates endured the wait while in significant pain and unable to sleep, only to be told that there were no ambulances available, and eventually had to be transported to hospital by her family.

Meryl had called her son Andrew on Saturday morning to tell him she had fallen and wasn't able to get up. When Andrew arrived at his mother's house, he realised he wasn't able to move or carry her to his car as she was in so much pain.

He called an ambulance just before 10:30AM on Saturday, but by Sunday afternoon, one still hadn't arrived."We hear stories in the press of people lying on the ground for 8, 10, hours, so we expected an 8 hour wait.

"But I had no idea it was going to be that long," Andrew Coates said."I made several [999] calls over the period. They called me a few times as well. And finally, my last phone call was 29 hours after my initial call."

Meryl's son Andrew said the ordeal was "really, really frustrating." Credit: ITV Wales

Meryl was initially instructed not to have any food, water or pain medication until an ambulance had arrived.

Only after a wait of 21 hours was Andrew advised that Meryl could have something to eat and drink, along with some pain medication.

Eventually Andrew gave up waiting and drove Meryl to hospital himself, which involved lifting her into his car despite her having a suspected broken hip.But Andrew said it was a decision he felt forced into making,

"There was no indication if we would get [the ambulance] that day or not.

"It was, 'You're almost at the top of the list.' But there was no indication if there was light at the end of the tunnel."

"Obviously you understand that if people ring up with a heart attack or a broken leg, the heart attack is going to be first.

"But 30 hours is pushing it way beyond the extreme. It was really, really frustrating."

Sonia Thompson, Assistant Director of Operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said the service is "deeply sorry" for the family's experience, saying: "This is not the level of service we wish to provide to patients."She added that the service is under "extreme and well-documented pressure as a result of wider system pressures across the NHS," compounded this weekend by Storm Bert.

The statement continued: “As an ambulance service, we’re thinking very differently about the way we deliver services in future, and we are already testing some new ways of working to understand how we can relieve some of the pressure in the system while continuing to provide patients with the care they need."

A review into targets for ambulance response times has been announced. Credit: ITV Wales

Andrew said the lack of pain relief for Meryl was one of the most difficult parts of her ordeal.

"Even if you just get somebody around [the house] to give some pain relief, explaining, 'You can't be taken into hospital, but we can make it more comfortable, give you some pain relief, and hopefully ambulance will be around soon to deal with it properly,'" Andrew said.

It comes as the Health Secretary Jeremy Miles today announced a review into targets for ambulance response times as recommended by the Senedd's health committee.

Currently 65% of the most serious calls should be answered within 8 minutes, but that target hasn't been met in over 4 years.

"Targets have to be realistic... But if there's a target for a reason, then you have to have the resources," Andrew said, who believes it is a "whole-system problem."

The review will conclude at the end of next February.

Responding to the review, Sam Rowlands MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister said: “We need bold action from the Labour Welsh Government to reduce ambulance waits, not just a review of the targets.

“Barely half of the most serious ambulance calls receive a response within the target time. We need clear and transparent targets to improve accountability.

“The Welsh Conservatives want to see a long-term plan, involving social care, to address capacity issues within the Welsh NHS to improve the flow of patients into and out of hospitals that applies pragmatic, cross-sector thinking and makes use of cross-border availability.”

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