AN 84-year-old man was left lying on a cold concrete floor waiting 11-hours for an ambulance. 

David Griffiths, from Buckley, tripped on Wednesday, July 19, and fell in a narrow concreted part of his front garden at 1pm. 

A neighbour, concerned about the time it was taking for an ambulance to arrive, contacted Arnold Woolley, County Councillor for the Buckley Ward at 9pm.

Cllr Woolley said: "He appeared to have suffered broken bones and tears and abrasions to his right hand and arm. He was unable to move.

"His 81-year-old wife Pat immediately phoned 999 and was advised that an ambulance would be there in about 55 minutes.

"When that did not happen, Pat Griffiths phoned 999 again, only to be told that the ambulance service was very busy and they would get an ambulance there as soon as they could.

"Pat Griffiths phoned again at 5pm and was again advised that the service was very busy but they would get there as soon as they could. That left Mr Griffiths laying where he had fallen, now covered in as many blankets as they could find."

Following the neighbour's phone call, Cllr Woolley drove to David's house.

He added: "In an effort to try to do something positive, my wife and I drove down to the Area Ambulance Station on Chester Road in Buckley. Lots of ambulances parked there. I found one helpful ambulance man who phoned their control office and pointed out that Mr Griffiths had been waiting laying on cold concrete in the open for over nine hours.

"The helpful ambulance man finished speaking to the control room and advised me that Mr Griffith’s case had now been upgraded to a level 2 emergency and that due to pressures and demands of Grade 1 cases, cardiac arrests, strokes and choking, an ambulance would be with Mr Griffiths just as soon as could be arranged."

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Cllr Woolley said he and his wife later left David's house just after 10pm with no appearance of any ambulance. He later confirmed that it arrived at midnight. 

He describes the situation as "a dreadful indictment of the NHS ambulance service in Wales under present management."

Sonia Thompson, Assistant Director of Operations, at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr Griffiths’ wait for an ambulance. Unfortunately, this distressing experience is not unique; it is systematic of the pressures that the NHS is facing across Wales.

“We prioritise patients who need urgent or life-saving intervention, while sadly patients whose condition is less serious, like a fall, may wait longer for our help, or be advised to make their own way to hospital if they are able to.

“This is not the service that we aim to deliver and we are working hard with our partners and Local Health Boards to provide a solution.

“We invite Mr Griffiths and his family to contact our Putting Things Right team so we can investigate the incident fully, and we wish him a speedy recovery.”