‘We dialled 999 – nobody came’

Lillian Jordan called three times for an ambulance when husband Michael, 73, who suffered a stroke ten years ago, had a fall.

He was lying on the floor in pain and his wife was unable to lift him so phoned 999 for help.

Mrs Jordan, 70, of Barton, said: “Michael had hurt his legs quite badly and I couldn’t get him up.

“I waited half an hour before calling 999 a second time to see where they were and the only response I got was: ‘They’ve got a long way to come.’

“They told me to leave the front door open – on a freezing cold December night – and the lights on, which I did for two hours until I realised no one was coming.”

Eventually, Mrs Jordan said a paramedic phoned and attempted to diagnose Mr Jordan over the phone, then told her an out-of-hours doctor would come to see them, but the doctor didn’t turn up either.

Having first called 999 at 12.20am on Sunday, December 18, it was 7.45am when Mr and Mrs Jordan’s own carers arrived before they were first given any attention.

They then had to wait until Monday for a GP to visit them.

Mrs Jordan said: “The doctor was disgusted that we had been treated like this.

“I had managed to get Michael onto the bed using my knees after a few hours, but he had bruises in his back from it and open wounds on his legs where he hit the wardrobe.”

Daughter Angela Brogan, who lives in Peterborough, was furious when she found out what had happened to her parents and is making a formal complaint to the East of England Ambulance Service Trust.

Ms Brogan said: “I was reading the Luton News website when I saw the story about the EEAST having fewer 999 calls than expected over the weekend. I couldn’t believe it.

“If that was the case why were my parents’ calls ignored?

“We could have lost him. His GP said he could have had a fit which caused him to collapse.

“My father was screaming in pain and each time my mother tried to get him up he screamed in pain again.

“As my father cannot communicate very well since the stroke he could not tell her exactly where the pain was.”

East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) spokesman Gary Sanderson said: “I can confirm an internal investigation has been launched.”