A 97-year-old woman waited 17 hours for an ambulance on a care home floor as ambulance bosses apologise and blame "severe pressure".

Sally Oakley, who has dementia, fell in the communal lounge at the Beechwood Residential Care Home in Upton-upon-Severn at 3pm.

However, West Midlands Ambulance Service did not arrive until 8am the following day.

Her son Richard Oakley said: "I was contacted by the care home in Upton on Thursday afternoon to say she has had a controlled fall.

"They had called 999 as she may have injured herself and they were waiting for an ambulance.

"I kept regular contact with the home until the evening at around 11pm that night.

"They had made numerous calls to the 999 service and one still had not come.

"I went to bed and told the staff I was happy to be kept updated throughout the course of the night.

"I woke up early the next day and phoned the home and an ambulance still had not arrived.

"Eventually, it arrived at 8am on Friday - 17 hours later."

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Oakley and her family for the time it took to reach her.

“The whole of the NHS remains under severe pressure and unfortunately, hospital handover delays mean some patients are waiting far longer for an ambulance to come to them than we would want."

A paramedic from the Trust’s control room made a welfare call at 4.09pm on Thursday, to check on the patient’s condition.

During the call, the paramedic provided provide further advice to manage her condition and advised of ambulance delays

Sally was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital the next day and was checked over and discharged.

Richard said: "My mum had been laying in the communal area that entire time, thankfully the staff made her comfortable.

"I contacted West Midlands Ambulance Service to make a complaint and they were also shocked and amazed about the delay but they could not offer any explanation as to how this had happened.

"I was very, very concerned as to what was happening, I appreciate they need to prioritise calls but I find it virtually impossible to believe that there wasn't some opportunity for her to receive a visit in those 17 hours.

"When the ambulance got there they were concerned she was dehydrated and took her in straight away which is pretty ironic."

The WMAS spokesman continued: “We continue to work with local partners to find ways to reduce the delays so that our crews can respond more quickly. 

“Our staff and volunteers continue to work tirelessly to respond as soon as we can.

“The family have contacted the service to raise a complaint, which will be fully investigated.”