A FRAIL 81-year-old who developed a bleed on his brain after tripping on his doorstep had to sit in the pouring rain for almost two hours before an ambulance arrived.

Sheila Saunders, the partner of William Matthews, described the wait as “disgusting”.

“When I phoned 999 for the ambulance I would have expected it to come up as an emergency and that they would have sent someone more quickly,” said Mrs Saunders, 74.

Mr Matthews remains in hospital after Thursday’s accident and the couple are £332 out-of-pocket because they had to cancel a Bank Holiday break in Blackpool.

The accident occurred at around 10.20 on Thursday as Mr Matthews stepped out of his Deepdale Road home in Breightmet to get a suitcase from the garage for the holiday

“He stopped to watch an air ambulance hovering over Withins Lane and tripped on the doorstep,” explained Mrs Saunders.

Mr Matthews, who is a diabetic, injured his head, neck, back and shoulders in the fall and remained prone on the ground.

“He is on warfarin, which thins his blood, so there was quite a lot of it coming from his head wound.”

Mrs Saunders phoned the emergency services and was told an ambulance would be sent but in the meantime, Mr Matthews should not be moved.

“It was pouring with rain so I had to wrap him in a blanket and use umbrellas, but he still got sopping wet,” said Mrs Saunders.

When the ambulance failed to arrive, she phoned again at 11am, and again at 11.30am.

One eventually arrived at 12.02 and Matthews was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital where it was discovered he had a bleed on his brain.

“The ambulance crew were lovely and helpful and it’s not them I’m unhappy with, it’s the cutbacks to the service,” said Mrs Saunders.

A spokesperson for North West Ambulance Service said: “We received a 999 call to a private address on 3 May at 10.25am. Based on the information given by the caller it was categorised as requiring a category three response which we aim to get to within two hours. Following further calls regarding the patient’s welfare, the call was upgraded to a category two at 11:25am.

“We always try to get to patients as quickly as we can but sometimes, due to varying factors, this response can be delayed. We have to prioritise those in an immediately life-threatening condition in order to get to them as soon as possible.

“Unfortunately, Mr Matthews was waiting longer than we’d like and we are sorry for any distress that this caused.

“We wish him a speedy recovery and if he or a family member would like to get in touch with our Patient Safety Team we would be very happy to speak to them in more detail.”