A CARELINE centre refused to call an ambulance for an elderly women although she lay in agony after a bad fall, her son has claimed.

Brian Boyes says his 72-year-old mother, Grace, has been badly let down by an emergency help-line

service, which is supposed to protect her.

But a spokesman for Careline said that they were not made aware that Mrs Boyes had fallen at the time.

Mr Boyes, 34, says his mother pulled the emergency cord, which connects residents to a Careline Centre, in Bradford, after falling out of bed at her council-owned flat last Monday.

With the help of her elderly neighbour, Doris Braithwaite, she requested an ambulance to her home at Storiths Court, in Addingham.

Far from being treated as an emergency case, Mrs Boyes, who is still being treated in Airedale Hospital for fluid on the lungs, a heart murmur and severe sciatica, was told that she would have to wait until the following day to see her own doctor.

Mr Boyes said: "They thought because she is under her own doctor for sciatica there was no need to call an ambulance. The decision to call for help was made by my mother and her friend. It was the only thing that they could do, expecting

somebody to come and help them. Instead they get a question and answer session.

"When she is on her feet she can look after herself, with all her other complaints. This is the one time that my mother needed somebody to be there."

In some distress Mrs Boyes was forced to telephone her son, who lives in Thirsk, and ask him to call an ambulance.

Mr Boyes said: "She got herself all worked up. She could not even speak for a few minutes. I just heard heavy breathing.

"She is under a doctor for her heart rate and breathing. I am under no doubt that if I had not called an ambulance she would have had a heart attack."

Mr Boyes says his mother, who has a heart condition, suffers from asthma and has a blood clot in one eye, also had difficulty using the telephone system, which operates like a walkie-talkie, with only person being allowed to speak at once.

He also claims she and Mrs Braithwaite were bombarded with questions about her condition before the refusal to call the ambulance.

Mr Boyes said: "They pulled the cord and the operator started a question and answer session to find out what the situation was. By this time she was in a distressed state. She was doing her best to say what was going on and operate the phone."

The self-contained flats for the elderly are manned on weekdays by a residential warden but at weekends they must rely on the emergency cord system.

Mr Boyes said: "It is not good enough. I am not happy at all with the care that they seem to have there. The warden is a smashing woman but she is away on holiday."

A spokeswoman for Careline said: "We sympathise with Mr Boyes' concerns, and as a result we are now reviewing the types of questions which our Careline operators

ask when someone wants an

ambulance.

"This will include questions such as whether the caller is hurt, or if there has been an accident.

"However, from the transcript of the conversation between Mrs Boyes' neighbour and our operator, it is clear she did not tell us that Mrs Boyes had fallen out of bed.

"She simply described Mrs Boyes' problems with sciatica, and the fact that the doctor had visited once that day.

"Had the neighbour mentioned at any time that Mrs Boyes had fallen, the operator would immediately called for an ambulance.

"Mrs Boyes will be assessed by our social work team to see if she needs any extra support when she returns home.

"We will be doing everything we can to meet her needs, and wish her a speedy recovery."