A woman was left waiting more than eight hours for an ambulance after falling down her stairs.

Beverley Elmer was on her way out of the house when she missed the last three steps and landed near her open front door.

She spent an hour waiting by the door after the ambulance service told her not to move, before a 111-nurse informed her she could take painkillers and move away from the door.

Here’s what you said on Facebook:

Victoria Carey: “The ambulance service is for life or death emergencies. I’m glad she was left waiting for hours, it just means they were dealing with bigger priorities.

Helen Edgington: “Surely she has family, friends and neighbours. Why couldn’t she have asked for somebody to take her to hospital? No need for an ambulance.”

Emma Tucker: “Taxi? Phone a friend? I don’t think breaking a leg is life threatening so not an emergency.”

Evie Marks: “I broke my tibia and fibia in September and my leg was snapped in half. My break was severe and I had no choice to call an ambulance and told not to move by the service.

“There are different severities of breaks so people should not judge others and just say it’s just a broken leg. I had to have surgery and have a titanium rod and pins to fix my leg.

“I am still struggling to walk after four months. I do know the health service is under huge pressure as I work for the NHS but please don’t judge as no-one knows the severity of just a broken leg.”

Carrie Baker: “It would be a different story if it was her husband having a heart attack and they prioritised him over someone with a broken leg.

“A broken leg is not life threatening in that situation, if she had been knocked out or bleeding it would have been different.

“The NHS can’t magically recruit new ambulance crews, nurses or doctors so we need to help them to help us.

“As others have said, they could have got her into a car and she would have been picked up in a wheelchair on arrival at A&E.”

Donna Crawford: “There’s no point in waiting for an ambulance. If someone can’t drive you then you have to get a taxi.

“Ambulances are for when you need help at the scene or cannot possibly be moved.

“Otherwise you’re just adding six-plus hours to your waiting time as you’ll end up further back in the A&E queue by the time you get there.”

Maggie Mundy: “Unfortunately in the last couple of months we had to use the ambulance service quite a few times and I have nothing but praise for all of the staff.

“They and the hospital are understaffed and do a fantastic job under the circumstances.

“The hospital is not big enough and they are building more and more houses so unfortunately the situation is not going to get any better. We need another hospital and more ambulance staff.”

Sally Clark: “Sadly, with limited resources, people calling ambulances unnecessarily and overstretched staff, this can be the result. As this particular patient was not bleeding, having breathing or heart problems and was at home with people around her, this case would not have been a high priority.

“Had it been me, I would have felt exactly the same as we all consider ourselves to be top priority, however, would you prefer an ambulance to attend a potentially broken leg or a person having a heart attack?”

Sonia Joiner: “It was a broken leg. Nothing life threatening. If she was in that much pain, why didn’t her family or friends take her to A&E? Failing that, why not simply get a taxi?”

Emma Beckett: “I broke my foot and had no one around me, took myself to hospital in a taxi because I didn’t deem it a 999 emergency.”