Several Suffolk families say they have lost faith in the ambulance service after they've been left 'completely abandoned' with wait times extending to 36 hours.
Ongoing pressures continue to face the ambulance service which is working to reduce handover delays and get more ambulance crews back on the road.
The family of 86-year-old Oonagh Gleeson found her on the ground, with her head wedged between a door and a bookcase, on Thursday, November 24.
They called 999 to request that an ambulance attend her Needham Market home immediately but were left staggered when they were met with a 36-hour estimated wait time.
Her son, James Molloy, said they felt "completely abandoned" and were left at a loss as to how they were meant to look after her for 36 hours until the ambulance arrived.
He said: "It's absolutely ridiculous. If somebody is at least conscious and breathing, it seems like they get pushed back.
"How many people are actually dying and still being denied an ambulance?"
Luckily for the family, Ms Gleeson's daughter Penny is a qualified nurse and therefore was able to lift her safely into her car.
Ms Gleeson was carefully taken to Ipswich Hospital where they found she had broken her foot and has since been transferred to a care home facility.
Matthew Bonner said his experience with trying to take his two-year-old son to hospital after a serious head injury was "woeful at best" and he felt "failed by the emergency services".
On Monday, September 26, Dennington toddler David Bonner fell through a glass coffee table and sustained a head injury.
"My son's eyes were rolling back in his head and the amount of blood he lost was extensive," said Mr Bonner.
"He passed out twice in my arms."
His parents called an ambulance but, despite spending 25 minutes on the phone pleading with the operator, were told they would have to wait five hours and decided to go by car instead.
David had his head glued when he arrived at Ipswich Hospital and, though the wound continued to bleed for three days afterwards, is now healing with just a scar to tell the tale.
Mr Bonner added that if his family were to ever have an accident again, he would just call his wife and drive straight to A&E himself.
A 45-year-old stroke victim from Ipswich was also left feeling completely abandoned after two of his ambulances were cancelled and he was left with no choice but to get the bus to hospital.
Gavin Matthews started experiencing loss of feeling in his right hand on Wednesday, November 16.
His ambulance was cancelled just half an hour after it had initially been called out and he was advised to make his own way to A&E, which meant catching two buses in an hour-long journey.
He reached Ipswich Hospital, but was met with a seven-hour wait and decided to turn home - only for his condition to worsen in the middle of the night after which another ambulance was called and cancelled.
His wife, Lauren Matthews said she was "disgusted" by the response to a life-threatening condition, adding: "My husband suffered a stroke and two ambulances were cancelled. It's just the stuff of nightmares."
Mr Matthews remains in Ipswich Hospital with limited movement in his right arm and leg, with muscular weakness causing speech issues.
Suffolk Coastal MP and former health secretary Thérèse Coffey said: "These latest incidents of ambulance response time delays are completely unacceptable.
"I encourage those affected to make formal complaints and if any of them are my constituents also encourage them to contact me so I can follow up."
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) has been operating at the highest escalation alert level for ambulance trusts since July 2021 - the National Ambulance Resilience Unit's Resource Escalation Action Plan level four.
An EEAST spokesman said: "When demand on the service is extremely high, we must prioritise those with immediately life-threatening conditions and advise some lower category calls to make their own way to hospital, once reviewed by a clinician.
"We are working closely with hospitals to reduce handover delays, getting more ambulance crews back out on the road to improve care for our patients and investing in more senior clinical presence within our control centre to further improve patient safety."
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