An elderly woman was left lying on a busy town centre street for more than four hours while she waited for an ambulance.
Horrified members of the public rushed to the lady's aid on Wednesday after her fall in Ayr's Newmarket Street.
But despite suffering a head wound, she was forced to wait the entire afternoon for a mercy crew.
Shocked eyewitnesses told how it was left to the public to treat the woman while she endured her marathon wait.
One told Ayrshire Live: "I passed the poor lady on the ground as she was being attended to by people – presumably after she had just fallen.
"So I couldn't believe my eyes when I returned two hours later and she was still lying there. It was utterly horrifying to see.
"Thankfully plenty of people were on hand and a doctor and nurse seemed to be helping out, but nobody should have to wait that long for an ambulance."
Pub boss Jim McSherry, who owns the Wee Windaes, was among those on the scene and praised the efforts of the public in rallying to the cause.
He said: "Everyone mucked in and the girls across at Rogerson Shoe Shop were absolute stars.
"Dr McKenzie from the Cathcart Street practice was one of those to stop and he was great at helping out.
"There was also a former nurse called Lesley Ann who was first there and made sure to put the lady in the recovery position.
"Loads of people were offering to take her to hospital themselves but the advice was obviously not to move her.
"Christine, who lives above the pub, brought down cushions and pillows and helped to make the lady as comfortable as possible so it was a real team effort to help out."
A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "We would like to sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to this patient.
"As with the whole of the NHS across Scotland, we are currently experiencing extreme pressure on our services as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and this call came in during a period of high and sustained demand.
“Restrictions easing, staff isolating and lengthy hospital patient handovers have unfortunately resulted in an increase in delays to ambulances reaching patients but our staff are working tirelessly during this challenging time to attend to patients as quickly as possible.
“As part of our demand and capacity programme to increase our resilience, we’re introducing additional staff, ambulances and the latest equipment across the country as we develop and grow our workforce at pace to respond to the demands made for our services."
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