A woman has claimed she faced a nine and a half hour wait for an ambulance after her elderly father suffered a serious fall at home.
It comes following M.E.N reports that our region is currently seeing exceptionally high demand for emergency services.
A&E departments and ambulance services across Greater Manchester and the North West are experiencing extreme pressure, as the NHS attempts to deal with a backlog of patients.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she phoned for an ambulance last Wednesday night (June 30) after her 90-year-old dad fell in the bathroom at home.
She claims she was told by the phone operator that there would be a minimum nine and a half hour wait for an ambulance to reach their home in Prestwich.
A spokesperson for NWAS said at the time of her call, the service had 150 more patients waiting in Greater Manchester alone.
They confirmed that 'less urgent' patients were being informed they may have to wait several hours for a response.
The service user, who called the situation 'very worrying' said she wasn't given any alternative by the call handler, and had to wait until the following morning to speak to a doctor.
"My dad is 90 and he lives with me because we lost my mum in December last year so I am his carer," she said.
"Last Wednesday at about 7pm he shouted me from the bathroom and I went in and he had collapsed between the wall and the toilet.
"Because both his legs are not good he couldn't move. I thought straight away we need to get an ambulance.
"Luckily my neighbour managed to get him back into his bedroom but then he started being violently sick."
The woman said she phoned an ambulance for her dad but was told it would be a minimum of nine and a half hours before one could be dispatched.
"I was really worried," she added.
"He was constantly being sick and shaking like a leaf. To see your father in such a distressed state, you just want to get someone to come out and help him.
"I asked if there was any chance of one of the smaller cars coming but it was exactly the same situation.
"They just said they were very busy. No alternative was given.
"We couldn't get him down the stairs so the ambulance was the only option. It is just ridiculous."
The woman said she decided to cancel the ambulance and make contact with her doctor instead, who phoned back the following day.
"I have just about calmed down now," she said.
"It has made my very anxious if I need them in the future though.
"It is a case of knowing that you have to ring these services but after Thursday night I am worried if anything else happens what I am going to do.
"It is very worrying."
Last Friday (July 2) patients arriving for A&E at North Manchester Hospital reported facing a 13 and a half hour wait to be seen.
One man, who attended the hospital in Crumpsall with his wife, said the area was 'packed' and that he had to queue just to get into reception.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, who run the hospital, confirmed they and other healthcare providers across the city are "currently experiencing high levels of demands."
And earlier this month, patients attending A&E at Manchester Royal Infirmary were faced with queues of around ten hours, the M.E.N understands.
Another night saw A&E patients waiting for up to eight hours.
Hospital bosses said some patients were unable to enter the triage waiting room due to a ‘significantly higher than usual number of patients’ attending the MRI Emergency Department.
This resulted in similar queues outside the department, they said.
A spokesperson for North West Ambulance said: "We are experiencing an extremely busy period at the moment and are dealing with a high number of requests for help.
"At the time of the call in question, we had more than 150 calls waiting in Greater Manchester alone. As we prioritise the most seriously injured and ill first, we are unfortunately informing less urgent patients they may have to wait several hours for a response.
"Because of this, some patients may want to consider alternative pathways to treatment that may be appropriate, including GP services, pharmacists and 111.nhs.uk.
"However, if a patient's condition worsens, we always advise ringing 999 again to allow us to reprioritise the situation.
"In this case, the family decided not to proceed, and we are pleased to hear he is making positive progress towards recovery at home.
"If he or his family have any further concerns, we urge them to get in touch with our patient safety team, who can look into the matter further."
