A MAN has hit out at the ambulance service after his wife, who suffers from dementia, had to wait for help twice.

Rosina Catania, 84, of Olivers Road, Clacton, needed an ambulance after suffering a fall and then chest pains – on both occasions she was forced to wait.

First, on October 27, a paramedic arrived seven minutes after a 999 call was made at 11.41am.

They called for an ambulance to take her to hospital, but it did not arrive until 2.28pm.

When Mrs Catania suffered a fall, an ambulance was called again, but it took almost an hour for an ambulance to arrive.

Mrs Catania’s husband Thomas said: “I was struggling with her on the staircase as she was crying and yelling.

“We didn’t realise she’d broken her femur until the paramedic arrived.

“I couldn’t praise the paramedics and ambulance staff enough, but the service bosses have got to do something about this.

“It is shocking to wait so long for an ambulance when you are in desperate need.”

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: “On both occasions Mrs Catania’s condition was closely monitored by our clinicians, over the phone and on scene.

“We are putting additional ambulances on the road so we can respond to our patients in a more