PRIME Minister David Cameron has promised to investigate ambulance response times in the North-East.

Let’s hope he keeps his word because the two cases highlighted on our front page story today are deeply disturbing.

Florence McNeilly, 85, was left waiting for an ambulance for nearly five hours after a fall in her Darlington home.

Earlier, in Newton Aycliffe, 82-yearold Jessie Higginbottom, who was vomiting blood, had to wait nearly four hours for an ambulance to reach her.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman highlighted the cases during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday and was given Mr Cameron’s promise of an investigation.

Response targets are in place for the ambulance service, with paramedics aiming to reach patients with non-threatening conditions within 30 minutes.

We appreciate there have to be priorities, but something has clearly gone wrong if people in their 80s are waiting so long.

We do not doubt that ambulance staff are working hard to meet their targets, but these distressing cases raise questions about whether the system can cope with increased demand.

We are pleased to see that Darlington’s MP is on the case, arranging a meeting with the chief executive of the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), Simon Featherstone, next week.

We look forward to the outcome of that meeting and the answers drawn from the Prime Minister’s Questions, which need to include: How often is this happening? And what is going to be done to ensure that the failings in the system are addressed?