A diabetic grandmother was left in excruciating pain for 11 hours after an ambulance failed to arrive to help, despite several desperate phone calls from her granddaughter.
Cassandra Wilson, 56, was on her way to a doctor's appointment for her diabetes on September 24, when she missed a step, had an accident and fell over.
The gran, from Hull, hurt her knee and ankle which began to swell and her family began to worry, reports Hull Live.
Her 20-year-old granddaughter, Cassielee Medcalf, called the ambulance at approximately 10:30pm when they discovered she was in a lot of pain.
Cassielee said: "We rang the ambulance and they said they would be there soon, but did not tell us how long it would be. After waiting for four hours, we called again and the operator was really rude to me and asked why I was calling again if we had already called.
"But we were all so worried, my family did not sleep that night. My nan was in really bad pain, to the point she could not walk or stand at all or even get in bed.
"I was calling back because we were told if my nan's condition got worse, which it did, but the operator had a bit of an attitude. It's disgusting really, they knew about her diabetes but they made her wait so long in pain."
The ambulance eventually arrived at 8:30am the next day and took Cassandra to Hull Royal Infirmary.
Because of the pain she was in and the severity of her injuries, she had to stay the night in the hospital. She has since returned home and is recovering from her ordeal, but the family say they are very unhappy with the way she was treated by the ambulance service.
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: "We are sorry to learn that concerns have been raised about our response to this patient. Our Patient Relations Team would encourage the family to get in touch so we can liaise with them directly about the specific details of our response.
“All of our 999 calls are categorised according to the nature of a patient’s illness or injury and those in a life-threatening condition, such as cardiac/respiratory arrest, are always prioritised to ensure they receive our help as quickly as possible.
“During recent months, the urgent and emergency care system has come under increasing and sustained pressure. We continue to do our best to reach all patients who need our assistance as soon as we can and to provide a safe, responsive and high-quality service to the people of Yorkshire.”
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