A 91-YEAR-old hospital patient had to wait five hours in a wheelchair as ambulance crews were too busy to take her home.

Amy Smith was left in the accident and emergency department at the Royal Bolton Hospital - until 2am.

Miss Smith, a resident of St Martha's Rest Home, Bromley Cross, waited at the hospital from 9pm until the ambulance arrived for her at 2.10am.

Miss Smith had fallen and cut her eye and was taken to hospital for treatment at 7.30pm last Wednesday.

After being treated, a doctor telephoned for patient transport at 9pm.

Her daughter Val Smith, of Astley Bridge, said: "I am absolutely disgusted because she was stuck in a hospital wheelchair for five hours in a place she did not know. When the doctor telephoned for the ambulance, we were told it would be around an hour.

"When it got to an hour-and-a-half, I asked if we could get a taxi, but they would not let me.

"They said it would not be long and I went home.

"I telephoned the care home at midnight and they said she was not home yet. I could not believe it.

"I rang again at 1am and they called me around 3am to say she had just got back."

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Ambulance Service said: "We apologise to Mrs Smith and her family for their waiting until 2.10am to receive patient transport.

"However, we have huge demands on our resources and patient discharges, although important, are not as high a priority as emergency cases.

"It is not ideal that Mrs Smith had to wait for as long as she did but her case was not regarded as an emergency and we had to wait until resources were available for taking her home.

"We have not yet received a complaint but will be happy to investigate further if one was received."

Miss Smith was one of the 25 residents of Seymour House Residential Home who were forced to leave when the home closed last October.

Her daughter Val fought for months and appeared on ITV's GMTV pleading for more funding for the home. But the fight was lost and the residents moved out. Two of the residents, including 103-year-old Emily Aspinall, died shortly after.