Cancer patient’s FOUR-HOUR wait for ambulance after fall at home

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Mr Bloomfield screamed out in pain after he hit his head and smashed his hip

Arthur Bloomfield screamed out in pain after he hit his head off his TV and smashed his hip.

Ambulance service chiefs have now apologised to his furious family and launched an urgent investigation into the incident.

Mr Bloomfield, of Otley, near Ipswich, Suffolk, was finally taken to the town's hospital in the early hours of yesterday morning.

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My poor dad was screaming in pain it was that bad

Mark

The seriously ill pensioner had emergency surgery just hours later after doctors found he'd broken his hip.

The massive blow has come after Mr Bloomfield, diagnosed with terminal liver cancer last year, was devastated to lose his beloved wife of 56 years just three weeks ago.

Luckily his son Mark was with him when he fell.

Mark made his first 999 call to East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) at 11.10pm on Monday.

He said he was warned they were tackling a "busy night" and they would have to wait.

Mark, 52, said he dialled 999 twice more and the non-emergency NHS line 111 once before an ambulance turned up at about 3.30am.

"My poor dad was screaming in pain it was that bad.

"He fell from standing up and banged his head on the TV unit – and now we know he has fractured his hip," he said.

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He was finally taken to hospital in the early hours of the morning

"It's the third fall he has had in a week, so obviously there's a serious problem."

Mr Bloomfield's daughter-in-law, who asked not to be named, said: "I think it's totally disgusting to leave a man of almost 80 on the floor for four hours."

The outraged family has made a formal complaint to the ambulance service.

An EEAST spokesman said the incident was coded as "serious but not life-threatening".

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Ambulance service chiefs have now apologised to his furious family

The spokesman said: "We dispatched a number of ambulances to Mr Bloomfield.

"But unfortunately these were diverted to other patients whose conditions were deemed more immediately life-threatening.

"We weren't able to get a crew to him until just after 3am.

"We strive to provide an excellent service to our patients.

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The outraged family made a complaint to the ambulance service

"We're sorry that on this occasion we haven't met the high standards we aim for, and that Mr Bloomfield and his family expect.

"Our crews and control rooms colleagues are unfortunately facing considerable pressures.

"Sheer patient numbers and demand do have an impact on our ability to respond as quickly as people expect us to.

"We are grateful for Mr Bloomfield's family contacting us directly and will be investigating this further for them."

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