A CONWY county councillor has criticised the UK Government after his mother-in-law waited 20 hours for an ambulance after a fall last week.

Cllr Dave Jones, who represents the Glyn y Marl ward, said his 87-year old mother-in-law, Phyllis, fell from her living room chair in her Llandudno Junction bungalow at 12pm on November 30.

But it was not until 8am the following morning (December 1) that an ambulance arrived and transferred her to Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor.

Cllr Jones said this unfortunate incident reflects his belief that “underfunding and creeping privatisation is killing our NHS”, and that “a lot more could be done from Westminster”.

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He said: “Her carer called her careline, and an ambulance was called because she couldn't move her right leg. We made her as comfortable as possible on the floor.

“A lovely, attentive, professional ambulance response driver arrived at 9.30pm (on November 30), assessing her and lifted her off the floor.

“She was unable to weight-bear, and had been on the floor for more than nine hours, therefore the response man ordered an ambulance transfer to take her to Ysbyty Gwynedd.

“For ease of transfer when the ambulance arrived, the response driver transferred her to a commode seat and left the scene to attend another job.

“The hospital transfer ambulance had still not turned up at 3.45am and my mother-in-law had now been waiting to be transferred to hospital for 15 hours, 45 minutes and counting.

“She couldn't rest, so we took the decision to transfer her from the commode to her bed; she was in lots of pain but more comfortable.

“After numerous phone calls during the night, the ambulance arrived at 8am - a wait of 20 hours.”

Cllr Jones said a paramedic advised him and his wife to wait until lunchtime to contact the hospital’s Emergency Department for an update on his mother-in-law’s condition – “over 24 hours post-fall”.

He said he and his wife were “incredibly” happy with the “brilliant” ambulance crews who saw to Phyllis; it was simply the wait for her to receive such care which disappointed them.

Phyllis, he said, was discharged last weekend, and has now returned home to Llandudno Junction.

But Cllr Jones said his family are looking at moving her into a nursing home, with Phyllis already receiving full-time care.

He added: “She is totally confined to her bed, and has absolutely no mobility at all. The whole family is pretty upset about it all.

“Underfunding and creeping privatisation is killing our NHS. We just feel a lot more could be done from Westminster.

“No matter what government it is, the Welsh Government always gets a bad deal. Things could be so much better.”

Attempts were made to contact the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care for comment.