Pensioner, 95, left on cold pavement with broken hip for five hours told by 999 she’s ‘not a priority’

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A 95-year-old woman was left on a cold pavement for more than five hours waiting for an ambulance after the emergency services told a bystander trying to help her that she wasn’t a priority.

Winifred Soanes fell and broke her hip on Christchurch High Street in Bournemouth on 25 November.

Her husband Andrew, 92, “wouldn’t leave her side”, and several people in the area tried to help out, with local businesses offering essentials to help Winifred.

Jennifer Baylis, who works at a nearby Prama charity shop, helped throughout the day. She said: “I can’t tell you how upsetting it was, she actually said, ‘I’m going to die here tonight’”.

Ms Baylis said a number of people attempted to call an ambulance to help Winifred, but they were given no timeframe and told she was not a priority by the emergency services.

Mr Soanes, Winifred’s husband, described the scene, saying: “The situation was dire, but it’s great to know that when they need to, the community all pull together to help.”

Winifred was eventually taken to Poole Hospital for treatment and is waiting for an operation, he said.

David Lovell, a bystander who was the first to call for an ambulance, said: “I can’t describe how cold it was, and as it got dark, the temperature dropped really quickly.

“She was lying on the cold pavement, and we couldn’t move her because she was in huge amounts of pain”.

Mr Lovell said he and others tried to find ways to prop up Winifred’s head, using shoe boxes and a pillow from local shops.

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance said: “We are sorry that we were not able to provide a timely response to this patient. Any occasion where the care we provide falls below the high standards our patients deserve and rightly expect is unacceptable.

“Handover delays at emergency departments remain one of our biggest challenges. To ensure our ambulances are available to attend the next emergency call within the community, we need to be able to hand patients over within the 15-minute national target.

“We continue to work hard with our patients in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive.”