A 64-year-old was left waiting on an ambulance for 12 hours… only to be told that paramedics weren’t qualified to administer painkillers when they arrived.

Sandra Baker, who had a suspected broken leg after a heavy fall, was forced to endure hours of agony whilst she waited for an ambulance to take her to A&E at Colchester General Hospital.

After falling at around 6.00am last Thursday, Mrs Baker’s husband, Steven, phoned an ambulance when the pain wouldn’t subside.

Mr Baker, who is also 64 and lives in Welshwood Park, was furious that it was not until 1am the following day that his wife could finally be taken to A&E for treatment.

He said: “My wife fell over at six in the morning but we wanted to wait to see if the pain would go away rather than call an ambulance straight away.”

Although he rang an ambulance at 9.00am, Mr Baker became worried when an ambulance didn't arrive.

“We waited, and rang back again and again – we were told we were right at the front of the queue at 4.00pm,” he said.

“When they arrived, they said they couldn’t administer paracetamol or morphine – they weren’t certified to give it, and they had to stay and wait for another ambulance to arrive which took another three hours.

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“They finally got her into an ambulance at 12.45am – that’s ridiculous."

And Mr Baker made sure to add he laid no blame on the paramedics themselves, but did take aim at management.

“The medics and the nurses are fantastic, but the people who manage them should be fired in my opinion."

When contacted by the Gazette for comment, the East Anglia Ambulance made an apology for Mrs Baker's waiting it time.

A spokesman said: “We appreciate that this was a long period to wait to be seen, we did ensure that a clinician contacted the caller to monitor the patient’s condition and provide advice in the meantime.

“The service is currently experiencing an extremely high demand and we maintain focus on the highest clinical needs of patients.

“We would like to apologise for any additional stress this has caused Mrs Baker.”