Man has six-hour wait for paramedics after fall

David Steele, 62, has suffered more than 120 falls since undergoing neck surgery which left him with life-changing injuries in 2009.

He wears a pendant alarm, which he can use to contact emergency services when this happens, but after a fall in December he was left waiting until nearly 1am for help getting back up.

West Midlands Ambulance Service apologised for the wait, which it said stemmed from long hospital handover delays and the severe pressure on the NHS in general, and said staff were working tirelessly to respond to calls.

Last year the service increased the risk rating for hospital handover delays to the most severe possible in the first time in its history, with many paramedics being kept off the road while on shift as a result.

Mr Steele occasionally loses feeling in his ankles as a result of nerve damage, and can fall instantly. When this happens he is not able to get himself back up.

He called for help at around 6.30pm on December 10 following a fall at his home in Holloway Head, Birmingham, but paramedics did not arrive until 12.48am. They were able to get him back on his feet.

Mr Steele, a former school caretaker, said: “I have trouble with the nerves in my ankles and lower back and occasionally they will switch off without warning.

“I lost the feeling in my ankles and lost balance which meant I fell on the floor.

“I used my pendant alarm. They answered me and said ‘were you seriously hurt?’ and I said no. I was waiting until 1am for the ambulance to turn up, which is six-and-a-half hours.

“Luckily I could reach my urine bottle, otherwise I would have peed myself to the tune of one litre, which is what I did in the bottle while waiting.

“I am so terrified of falling because I don’t know when I am going to fall, and I don’t know when I am going to get help.

“Because of being left so long, I got in my head that nobody cared and nobody was coming and started having panic attacks.”

Mr Steele suggested St John Ambulance could take patients in lower category cases to take pressure off the ambulances.

An ambulance service spokesperson said the call had been placed as category 3, the second lowest priority.

They said: “The whole of the NHS remains under severe pressure and unfortunately, long hospital handover delays on the day meant some of our patients waited longer for an ambulance to come to them in the community than we would want.

“We are working with all local partners across the health and care system to reduce delays so crews can respond to the next incident as quickly as possible.

“We would like to apologise to Mr Steele for the time it took to reach him. Our staff are working tirelessly to respond to patients as soon as we can.”