Coventry patient waited 17 hours on floor for ambulance

Jean Burgess is recovering at her care home after her fall last week

A 90-year-old woman was stuck on the floor of her care home for 17 hours while she waited for an ambulance.

Jean Burgess, who has dementia, fell at Trinity Lodge in Coventry, and staff feared she had broken bones.

They did not want to move the resident in case she was injured further, meaning she had to stay where she fell before paramedics arrived.

West Midlands Ambulance Service apologised and said demand had been extremely high.

Mrs Burgess's son-in-law, Peter Garbett, said it was "completely unacceptable".

He said: "I was sitting with her for several hours and she was in agony, she was really distressed because she needed the toilet.... It was really embarrassing for her.

"Maybe it wasn't an emergency because it wasn't life-threatening at the time, but it was a humanitarian service that was required."

West Midlands Ambulance Service has apologised "wholeheartedly"

Mrs Burgess, who turns 91 this week, fell at about 10:30 BST on 20 July and was not seen by paramedics until 03:45 the following day.

She had to be fed on the floor, and Mr Garbett said care home staff worked to make her as comfortable as possible.

He added the employees were right not to move the patient amid concerns over potential broken bones, but said he wished there was lifting equipment on site to help prevent a similar occurrence.

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Mrs Burgess was taken to hospital for a check-up and no broken bones were found. She is recovering back at the care home.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said it "apologised wholeheartedly for the length of time it took to get to the patient".

A spokesperson said: "We continue to see high levels of demand for our service and our staff are working tirelessly to get to patients as quickly as possible."

The service received about 6,400 calls on the day Mrs Burgess fell and said a "typically busy" day would normally only see about 4,000.