MALMESBURY and District Link has taken Bath's Royal United Hospital to task for making an 80-year-woman wait more than eight hours at the hospital to receive a surgical stocking.

The Link is a community service run by volunteers who use private vehicles to take pensioners and disabled people to hospital appointments.

Link driver Jill Hill, of Corston, said the elderly Malmesbury lady, who did not want to be named, had used the service last month to keep her hospital appointment with a vascular specialist at 2pm.

She had seen the specialist, who sent her to the Accident and Emergency Out Patients' Unit at 2.30pm to be measured for a surgical stocking.

Mrs Hill waited with the elderly woman to give her a lift home.

She said the woman was eventually measured for her stocking at 10pm, and only received the stocking at 10.50pm.

Mrs Hill said: "I was furious. How can you leave an old lady sitting on a hard chair for all that time, when her leg should have been elevated. She was in tremendous pain and had nothing to eat for all those hours."

Mrs Hill said she had decided to take up the matter with the hospital's authorities, and write to North Wiltshire MP James Gray, even though the elderly lady had not wanted to make a formal complaint.

Mrs Hill said: "It was appalling and something should be done about it. I would like to know how many other elderly people from Malmesbury have had to wait like this."

Hospital spokesman Corinne Porter said: "I'm unable to comment on an individual patient, but would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused."

"Clearly this complaint has not been made by the patient herself. But if she has any concerns over the treatment she received, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss these with her."