An elderly Largs woman was furious after waiting three and a half hours for an ambulance to take her home from a hospital appointment.

Annie Marshall, 86, who uses a wheelchair, was left in a waiting room at Inverclyde Royal Hospital, Greenock, on Friday after a check-up.

Mrs Marshall, of Moorburn Park, added: “I am really angry about this. I don’t want people telling me that it was really unfortunate what happened to me.

It is totally unacceptable.

“After being attended to by a doctor, a nurse wheeled me to a new waiting room to wait for an ambulance. I was given a cup of tea and roll as I had not had any breakfast.

“The nurse said she had phoned for an ambulance and told them that I had seen a doctor and I was waiting to be taken home. I sat there for three and a half hours — it was disgraceful.

Mrs Marshall said that when the driver came back, he told her he had gone into Glasgow with a patient and had waited for him to be seen. That was why it had taken him so long.

She added: “During my wait, the same nurse came back down to the waiting room and asked ‘are you still here?” I responded ‘It looks like it!’ She assured me that she had phoned for an ambulance, and said she would go back and phone again.

“There were ambulancemen coming through every short while, and they asked me where I was going. I told them I was going to Largs, and their general response was ‘you’ll be all right then!” That was the attitude - that I would be fine!” Mrs Marshall was left fuming after speaking to other Largs residents at the weekend who told her they also have had to endure long waits for an ambulance.

“I think it is disgraceful that this is happening to a large number of people. It really needs to be brought out in the open - I am told that it is now a daily occurrence,” she said.

When Mrs Marshall phoned the hospital to complain on Friday afternoon about how she was treated, she was re-directed to an Edinburgh phone number.

She said: “I phoned the Inverclyde Royal in Greenock, and was told that they don’t take complaints. I phoned Edinburgh and there was nobody there who could deal with my complaint, but was asked for my name, address and telephone number. I am still waiting for a response. I told them - what you are doing to people is cruel. It is unacceptable.” SNP councillor Grace McLean said: “This is completely unacceptable, and worryingly, it is far from an isolated incident. I have spoken to the ambulance service, and they had no excuses, and they said they were going to investigate the matter. I have asked them to respond to Mrs Marshall, and to copy me in the response. For this to happen to an 86 year old who has been up since early in the morning is completely ridiculous. I am looking for reasons behind what happened.” A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “The booking was made for a pick up time of 12.05 but at 9.39 we were advised by the hospital that the patient was ready to go home. We make every effort to pick up patients promptly when they are ready earlier than originally booked, but on this occasion we unfortunately did not have a free vehicle to take Mrs Marshall home earlier than planned.”