AN elderly woman was left lying on the ground bleeding from the head for two-and-a-half hours while she waited for an ambulance.

Judith Jones, aged 76, cracked her head open after tripping over a no parking sign outside Mompesson House on a visit to Salisbury Cathedral Close on May 5.

Two police officers attended and helped to make the 999 call.

During the first call at about 5.15pm, they were told to expect a 90-minute wait, but crews did not turn up until 7.45pm.

Despite further calls to the ambulance service during the wait, Judith’s son Darryl was only told to keep her calm and that the ambulance “will be there when it gets there”.

It comes after the Journal reported that South Western Ambulance Service Trust (Swast) was failing to reach the most seriously injured and ill patients in good time or meet national targets.

Darryl said the ordeal left the family shaken, especially his mother who suffers from diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

“My mum was scared. She was bleeding from her head and she could see the blood. She was worrying about her blood sugars and her Parkinson’s and her shaking were getting worse.”

Darryl and his wife were told not to give Judith food or water, but this made her condition worse, especially as it was a hot day of about 24 degrees.

And despite being told Judith was safe to go home, the wound re-opened in the night and the family spent a further three hours in A&E, as doctors feared she had fractured her skull.

He said the police officers who came across the scene and helped to call 999 said they had called for an ambulance earlier that day, for an elderly man who had fallen, and it had taken minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Darryl believes the delay was caused by a shift change in ambulance staff, but Swast would not comment on whether this was true or confirm whether a shift change had taken place during the delay.

“To be told 90 minutes and then to wait two-and-a-half hours is really frustrating and quite upsetting,” Darryl said.

“We know it’s not the paramedics, these people are trying to do their best, it’s government cutbacks, but nobody should be waiting two hours. I don’t think anyone should even be waiting 90 minutes. Things can take a dramatic turn for the worse.”

Judith said she was left shaken after the fall, and has now made a decision to walk with a walker. She said: “I don’t feel very clever actually, my head hurts and it’s taking me a while to get over it.”

A spokesman for Swast apologised to the family and said managing ambulance demand “can be very challenging” and leads to prioritising the most serious cases, adding: “Sometimes this means that less poorly patients do not get the response that we would wish.”