Forty-hour ambulance waits as NHS delays worsen

More than 10,000 ambulances a week are caught successful queues of astatine slightest an hr extracurricular accident-and-emergency units successful England, a BBC News investigation shows.

The full - the highest since records began, successful 2010 - means 1 successful 8 crews faced delays connected this standard by mid-November.

Paramedics warned the problems were causing patients terrible harm.

One household told BBC News an 85-year-old pistillate with a breached hep had waited 40 hours earlier a infirmary admission.

She waited an "agonising" 14 hours for the ambulance to get and past 26 successful the ambulance extracurricular hospital.

When yet admitted, to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, which has apologised for her care, she had surgery.

Both ambulance effect times and A&E waits person deed their worst levels connected grounds successful each parts of the UK successful caller months.

In Cornwall, patients facing emergencies specified arsenic bosom attacks and strokes are present waiting much than 2 hours connected mean for an ambulance. The people is 18 minutes.

They are thought to beryllium among the worst delays successful the state but nary of England's ambulance services is adjacent to the target, portion Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are each missing their targets.

Alongside Cornwall, parts of Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Somerset and Bristol person the longest waits, Freedom of Information requests by the Liberal Democrats person revealed.

A cardinal occupation is the delays ambulances look handing implicit patients to A&E staff.

This is meant to hap wrong 15 minutes of accomplishment - but, arsenic the BBC News investigation shows, regularly takes longer.

The College of Paramedics said crews were facing a "perfect storm", with the queues extracurricular A&E preventing them reaching patients who request a 999 response.

College main enforcement Tracy Nicholls said: "We each cognize patients are coming to harm and successful immoderate cases terrible harm."

Government and section wellness chiefs' attempts to tackle the problems were "not truly making a dent" successful the delays, she said, and the strategy was facing gridlock.

And adjacent erstwhile patients are admitted into A&E, they tin look agelong waits for a furniture connected a ward, with infirmary bosses blaming a shortage of beds and problems discharging patients backmost into the community.

Marianna Flint's 85-year-old mother, Koulla, is conscionable 1 of thousands of patients a time caught up successful the problems.

Having fallen astatine home, successful August, she had been near successful "excruciating pain" lying connected the level overnight, her girl said.

When the ambulance yet arrived, Koulla was fixed symptom relief, but it past had to articulation a queue of 30 extracurricular the Royal Cornwall.

She past faced galore hours successful A&E being being taken for surgery. At 1 point, she was near successful her ain urine portion she waited.

Ms Flint, 53, said: "It was awful. You consciousness helpless due to the fact that you're giving your spot implicit to them to look aft a household subordinate who's successful agony and who needs surgery."

She has since received a written apology from the Royal Cornwall for the attraction provided to her mother.

The spot said it was "sincerely" atrocious for the failings.

Ms Flint said: "I astir consciousness atrocious for those looking aft her. It's not down to them. There was nary country wrong to judge her in."

Unions person cited the problems facing the emergency-care strategy arsenic 1 of the factors motivating members to strike.

A onslaught by members of the Royal College of Nursing is planned for 15 and 20 December successful England, Wales and Northern Ireland, portion earlier this week the 2 main unions representing ambulance unit said their members had besides backed walkouts.

Have you experienced a agelong hold for an ambulance oregon astatine A&E? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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