A wheelchair-bound patient nearly died in a hospital waiting room after he was left waiting for more than six hours for a private ambulance service to give him a lift home.

Neville Pearson, 60, of Hemel Hempstead, was admitted to Watford General Hospital with an infection earlier this month.

After he was released from the critical care unit at around 2pm on September 8, Mr Pearson was moved to the discharge lounge to await a lift home from a Private Ambulance Service vehicle.

However after several hours of waiting with no food or drink, the diabetic began to crash.

A passing nurse noticed he was slurring his speech so she rushed to get some orange juice and sandwiches to bring Mr Pearson’s blood sugar back up.

“It was sheer luck of the draw. Bear in mind I just came out of the critical illness ward, there was no observation. They just left me there for God knows how long. If it had been any longer, I would’ve gone into a coma,” he said.

“Even after they had brought me some food, they couldn’t get me transport home.”

Mr Pearson watched other patients leave in taxis as he waited for the private ambulance needed to fit his wheelchair.

Among the other people waiting with Mr Pearson in the “discharge lounge dumping ground” was a 97-year-old man who had been sat expecting transport from 9am until 6pm.

Six hours after he was first moved into the discharge lounge, the end seemed in sight as he was relocated to the ambulatory waiting corridor. However his lift still did not arrive.

At this point he managed to get hold of a friend, who came to pick him up. He arrived back home at around 10pm.

Mr Pearson criticised Private Ambulance Service for its poor performance, citing previous bad experiences with the privately-owned firm.

“I’ve had problems with Private Ambulance Service before. This time it nearly cost my life,” he said.

“It’s so dangerous – the next person is going to die. Watford General Hospital has no procedures in place to stop this happening again. They are doing nothing to remedy the situation.”

A Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group spokesperson said they were seeking a new private ambulance provider, adding: “This service remains under review, and an action plan - including random inspections – is in place to deliver improvements quickly.”

The hospital’s chief nurse, Tracey Carter, added: “I would like to apologise again to Mr Pearson and other patients who have experienced delays with patient transport.

“We’re also very concerned about the current unacceptable delays as we know how important it is that patients return home or to a homely environment as smoothly and quickly as possible.”

Private Ambulance Service complaints manager Ken Dutton-Topping said a crew did eventually arrive at the hospital to pick up Mr Pearson but that he had already left.