A woman has shared a “dangerous” situation that occurred at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, which saw her terminally ill father wait eight hours to see a doctor.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, has told the Daily Echo that her “horrendous” experience started at 6:10pm on Thursday evening.

She said: “My father, who has terminal cancer, came down with an awful infection. He was vomiting, shaking and couldn’t stay awake. We called 999 but couldn’t get through and dad was deteriorating quickly.

“We tried again and thankfully got through. The call handler was very calm and she stayed on the line with us until the ambulance arrived. The paramedics decided quickly that dad had to get to hospital as soon as possible.”

The woman says that the paramedics, one of whom has 28 years of experience, were “amazing”. She said: “If it hadn’t been for the crew, the experience would have been much worse.

“At a time when we were at our most vulnerable, they treated us fantastically and let mum ride in the back while I made my own way to the hospital.”

Upon arrival at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, the woman was shocked to see a backlog of up to 20 ambulances, all with patients waiting to be treated.

Despite being a category one patient, the 81-year-old father waited in the queue for an hour and a half, while staff battled to admit patients.

The woman said: “Dad eventually got into the hospital at around 8:30pm after our star of a paramedic pushed staff. Soon after, however, we were told that dad would have to wait a further six hours to see a doctor.”

The patient was eventually treated, approximately eight hours after the ambulance was called.

She added: “It was a horrendous experience which felt like something from the third world. This sort of thing is dangerous and people are going to die if our hospitals aren’t given better resources.

“The staff did as best they could, but for whatever reason admissions are going up and last night was an example where they couldn’t cope.”

A South Western Ambulance Service spokesperson acknowledged the incident on Thursday. They said: “NHS services in Dorset and across the South West, including our ambulance trust, are experiencing unprecedented, high-level demand.

“We work closely with our hospital partners to manage the issue of handover delays at emergency departments, so that our crews can respond to the next patient as quickly as possible. We treat around half of our patients over the phone or at the scene of incidents, without needing to take them to hospital.

Dr Alyson O’Donnell, chief medical officer for University Hospitals Dorset, said: “Our hospitals are under considerable pressure and we have been operating with a high level of occupancy for some time. There are significant pressures on emergency departments across the county – especially as visitors to the area soar – and we are seeing an increase both in walk in attendances and ambulances compared to two years ago.

“Our staff are working incredibly hard under pressurised circumstances and continue to prioritise our most poorly patients first. We all need to access NHS services wisely and would appeal to the public – especially in this very busy summer holiday season – to call NHS 111 first so they get the most appropriate care for their needs.”