A CARE home manager has hit out at ambulance waiting times - after an elderly resident waited 11 hours to be seen by an ambulance crew.

Michele Mens, care manager at Right Care in Bolton, claims many elderly residents are not being seen by ambulance crews for several hours.

On the night of September 22, a 92-year-old man with dementia had a fall in his home and his carers called for an ambulance, in line with their protocols, she says.

She told the Bolton News the man was not in pain and repositioned himself to make the wait more comfortable.

Despite being told that the wait time was initially five hours, the elderly resident is then said to have waited 11 hours before paramedics arrived at his house. He did not require hospital treatment eventually.

Michele Mens said: "This incident was the final straw for me. The most vulnerable in society are being forgotten about.

"If residents have a fall, we have to call an ambulance as it could result in complications.

"Only eight weeks ago, we had an 82-year-old resident who was left for nine hours on the floor with a broken hip. The resident ended up needing a replacement.

"Our residents are elderly and frail and they shouldn't be left like that. They're human beings.

"It comes down to a lack of government funding and resources for the ambulance crews.

"But with the way social care is going at the moment, I don't know how it's going to end."

This comes after a report from North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) showed the ambulance service failed to meet some of their targets for response times last summer.

For incidences relating to 'emergency calls', known as C2 calls, the mean ambulance wait time in June was 38:15, some 20 minutes above the set target.

The ambulance service set the target to respond to nine out of 10 of these calls in 40 minutes, But in June they responded to the requests in approximately one hour and a quarter.

For incidences categorised as 'urgent calls' otherwise known as C3 calls, where patients may be treated in their own homes, the NWAS target is one hour. But patients ended up waiting more than three hours on average.

Director of Operations at NWAS, Ged Blezard, NWAS operations director, said: "The ambulance service has continued to experience major pressures with significantly higher call volumes; in particular paediatric and mental health cases have been rising for many months.

"While the number of life-threatening (category one) emergencies is 21 per cent higher than August 2019, pre-pandemic.

"We always prioritise life-threatening emergencies and the most seriously injured patients first, and in times of exceptional demand, unfortunately, some patients are waiting longer than we would like.

"To help us longer term, we are retaining existing vehicles to boost ambulance numbers and recruiting more staff in our emergency call centres through additional funding announced by the Government this summer."

Cllr Andy Morgan, the borough's cabinet member for adult service and care home owner, said: "Long wait times for elderly residents are completely unacceptable. People should be expected to wait an hour for an ambulance.

"I am aware that this is being looked at by NWAS and they are considering further assistance, such as from the army.

"We are making a strong demonstration that this needs to be looked at as a matter of urgency.

"We are aware that pressure on the ambulance service is huge at the moment. If you need medical assistance and you feel you can get to the hospital without calling the ambulance service, I would encourage you to do so."