Pensioner's 3-hour wait for ambulance after slipping on banana in Asda Southampton breaking two bones

Grandmother-of-20 Margaret Rahman, 69, was shopping in the chilled section of the Southampton supermarket for chicken curry ingredients when she fell hard.

The mother-of-seven from Shirley hit her knee - shattering the bone under her kneecap.

I was just shouting 'my leg, my leg'

She told the Echo: "I was just walking, thinking, and I found myself falling.

"I just landed - I don't know if I landed on my knee, it felt like my head - although I didn't hit my head on the floor.

"I think I asked somebody to help but when I tried to move I couldn't.

"I was just shouting 'my leg, my leg'. One of the Asda guys came over and said 'you slipped on a banana'."

Retired secretary Margaret was left in excruciating pain as supermarket workers did their best to keep her comfortable.

She was unable to get up as she only has one hand. She lost her right hand after a fireworks incident aged nine while living at a convent in Zimbabwe.

Paramedics in Asda with Margaret Rahman (Image: Other)

'Freezing and shaking'

Control room staff handling the 999 call said no ambulances were available to come to her aid, family said.

She added: "It was right by the freezer - I was freezing and shaking for four hours laying there until the ambulance came.

"I can't blame (the paramedics) - they have to prioritise life-threatening over non-life-threatening."

Her daughter Miranda Rastrick, 45, was called by store staff and told an ambulance was called at 12.28pm.

But two hours later she was called again by worried staff as paramedics had not arrived.

Banana on the floor in Asda (Image: Other)

She travelled to the store to find her mum on the floor wrapped in blankets next to the fridges.

"It's scary - it really brought home what I've heard a lot of people say about what the situation is (in the NHS) but I really didn't take it that seriously until Thursday," she said.

More relatives headed to the store at around 4.30pm to move Margaret but ambulance crews arrived at the same time.

Margaret had to undergo surgery and is still in Southampton General Hospital for treatment.

'It's just not right'

Another of her daughters, Rhonda Boyle, 42, said: "They were waiting so long and waiting on the floor - there was no ambulance available.

"She couldn't move and it was absolute agony."

Rhonda said she understood the ambulance had to be diverted to a more pressing call.

"It's very scary what this country is coming to - it's just not right," she said.

Recent figures for South Central Ambulance Service - which takes up to 3,000 calls a day - show it had a nine-minute and 33-second average response time to life-threatening incidents in August.

Category three calls had an average response time of one hour, 52 minutes and nine seconds.

Ambulance service response

A spokesperson for South Central Ambulance Service said: “We received a 999 call relating to the patient’s fall at 12:36 which was triaged appropriately as a category three call requiring an urgent but not emergency response.

“Calls are prioritised based on clinical need and, unfortunately, due to high demand in the local area at the time with patients suffering life-threatening and serious emergencies (categories one and two), we were unable to send a crew until 16:10.

“During the patient’s wait, a number of update calls were received by our clinical co-ordination centre informing them the patient’s condition had not changed or worsened and our staff offered apologies for the wait.

“While we aim to reach all category three patients within the two hour target set by NHS England, it is not always possible given current demand on the ambulance service and an unprecedented number of category one and category two calls being received.

“We would be happy to talk to the patient or their family about our response and discuss any further concerns they have and urge them to contact us via our Patient Experience Team on 0300 123 9280.”

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