Hospital transport: 'Hanging around and stressed out'

"The clock is ticking and ticking, and you're thinking 'have they forgotten me?'".

Phyllis Preece, 80, from Cardiff once waited four hours for a non-emergency ambulance to take her to a hospital appointment - which she then missed.

She now pays for taxis rather than worrying about whether she will get to the hospital in time.

Mrs Preece told her story as charity Age Cymru said delays and long journeys were causing older people to suffer stress and anxiety, and some were even discouraged from making appointments at all.

The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust said it was "logistically very difficult" to transport different patients to different locations, but it was working with other health organisations to improve the situation.