A FAMILY has demanded answers after a blind pensioner was left lying on the floor for more than three hours waiting for an ambulance.

Winifred Turner fell in the kitchen at her home in Ushaw Moor, near Durham, on October 28.

Her family feared she had broken her hip and did not move her, instead calling 999 for an ambulance.

Mrs Turner is blind and has chronic kidney disease. She also suffers from heart problems and arthritis, and the family hoped an ambulance would arrive quickly.

The first call was made at 9pm. However, by 10pm the ambulance had still not arrived.

They called again at 11.15pm but the ambulance did not arrive until around 12.15am shortly after a fourth call.

Louise Wilson, Mrs Turner's granddaughter, has launched a petition urging Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to address ambulance response times. For details visit change.org/p/jeremy-hunt-free-up-our-ambulances-for-real-emergencies.

She said: "It's very frustrating - they rang for an ambulance expecting that an ambulance would be there in a reasonable time and that didn't happen.

"Each time they called they were asked the same set of questions and they were told she had to just stay still. She is on warfarin and so if she had some internal injuries that we did not know about she could have bled to death.

"We just want people to be aware that when you ring an emergency number you don't always get an emergency service."

Mrs Wilson stressed that the complaint was not with the North East Ambulance Service (Neas) paramedics as they provided a "fantastic service".

She added: "It is with the ambulance service and the response time from the initial call. Clearly there is some issues with calls, call handler information and dispatching and service demands."

Mrs Turner has undergone surgery on her hip and has had it pinned and a plate inserted.

She is now recovering in Bishop Auckland Hospital.

In response to the criticism, operations manager for emergency care at Neas, Joe Hope said: “We apologise for any delays experienced by this patient. This case is currently being reviewed through our complaints procedure and a full response will be shared with the family directly. Any learning and changes will be shared as a result of the review.

“There is no national target for us to reach patient with non-life threatening conditions. Whilst we will always get to them as soon as we can, we must always prioritise those patients whose life is in danger. That means that during periods of high demand, some patients unfortunately wait longer."