A 96-YEAR-OLD woman who was left lying on the floor while she waited four hours for an ambulance has been nominated for a national health award for changing lives.

Rosetta West is only one of 300,000 people who got in touch with Healthwatch England, an independent health watchdog, to share their experiences of NHS treatment.

Safety protocols did not allow staff at the sheltered housing in Poole to lift her so she lay in pain.

Healthwatch Dorset helped her and Melton Court duty manager Fiona Smith to bring her experience to the attention of NHS bosses and MPS and her case was discussed in parliament.

As a result of her strength, the ambulance service has designed a new training and development programme for sheltered housing staff across the county detailing how to lift people after an incident – helping to reduce pressures on ambulance call-outs and ensure residents can be looked after if they fall.

Fiona said: “It certainly has made a 96-year-old lady feel proud of her amazing spirit and has highlighted the reality of what’s going on in Dorset.”

Today Healthwatch England has launched #ItStartsWithYou to highlight the difference patient feedback can make.

Last year 2168 residents shared their stories with Healthwatch Dorset last year and the campaign is encouraging members of the public to share their experiences of the NHS – good or bad – to help improve how things are done.

Joely Colmer, a 24-year-old autism activist, has also been nominated for the It Starts With You award for helping Healthwatch Dorset with its children and young people’s project ‘Be Yourself: Everybody Else is Taken.’

By sharing her own, often painful experiences, she has inspired more than 600 children and young people to take part in the Healthwatch project so health and care professionals know more about the issues.

Imelda Redmond, National Director of Healthwatch England, added: "It’s heartening to see a growing culture of people willing to share their story and incredibly important that the NHS is also increasingly keen to find out what people are feeding back. But to unleash the full potential we need people to keep sharing their experiences with us, so I urge everyone to speak up and help us make the changes we all want to see.”

The winner of the national award will be announced on July 6.

For more information go to healthwatchdorset.co.uk