A 93-year-old woman was left lying on the floor for more than 10 hours with broken bones after falling at her home in Wales while waiting for an ambulance.

According to the BBC, Margaret Owen fell at her home in Abercynon, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on 4 October, prompting her son, Graham Anthony, to rush to her side after receiving an alert from her lifeline alarm at 06:15.

Anthony said he called an ambulance at 07:35, but a St John Ambulance worker did not arrive until 15:30 after being requested by the Welsh Ambulance Service.

It took another 90 minutes before an ambulance arrived and transported Owen to hospital.

The elderly woman, who has dementia, suffered fractures to her femur and shoulder and required surgery. She remains at Royal Glamorgan Hospital.

Speaking about the ordeal, Anthony said watching his mother suffer while waiting for medical assistance had left him feeling helpless.

“Listening to her repeatedly asking for help and sometimes screaming in pain has left me with a feeling of hopelessness,” he said.

Anthony explained that his mother could not remember exactly what had happened because of her condition, making it difficult to establish how long she had been on the floor before activating her alarm.

“I don’t know how long she was on the floor for before she activated the alarm,” he said.

He added that his mother was visibly distressed when he arrived, with her right leg immobilised and complaints of pain in her right arm.

“She was obviously in clear distress on the floor… her right leg was immobilised, and she was complaining of pain in her right arm,” Anthony said.

“It’s just not good enough, is it?”

Son questions ambulance response

Although Anthony praised the ambulance crew who eventually attended to his mother, saying they handled her situation professionally, he admitted that the prolonged wait had shaken his confidence in the health service.

He subsequently shared his mother’s experience on Facebook, describing the delay as unacceptable, particularly given her advanced age and injuries.

The post attracted a significant response, with hundreds of people sharing similar experiences involving elderly relatives who had waited extended periods for medical assistance.

Anthony said the incident reflected a wider problem within the healthcare system, arguing that similar cases involving patients with serious injuries were becoming increasingly concerning.

“It’s not a service, is it really? A huge systemic problem and nobody seems to be getting to grips with it,” he said.

“It’s a terrible indictment on the health service and nobody seems to be getting to grips with it.”

He added that he had submitted a formal complaint to the Welsh Ambulance Service and the Welsh government.

Ambulance service responds

According to the BBC, Lee Brooks, chief operating officer of the Welsh Ambulance Service, apologised after learning about Owen’s experience.

Brooks said he was grateful that the incident had been brought to his attention and acknowledged that the length of time Owen waited for assistance fell short of the service’s expectations.

“Waiting almost eight hours for help is not the standard of service we want to provide,” he said.

He explained that a preliminary review had identified aspects of how the emergency call was managed that required further investigation.

The service was examining the circumstances surrounding the incident to establish whether different decisions could have led to an earlier response.