The patient contrasted his experience with the service he said he used to receive when his care was provided directly by the NHS, claiming he would previously receive a call back within about 30 minutes.

He said living with severe pain while waiting for medication could be extremely distressing.

“You are just curled up in a ball. You can’t take it. It’s horrible. You have just got to lie there and wait,” he said.

He has also complained about what he says was an inaccurate entry in his medical records in August, stating he had refused insulin.

In a separate case, Heather Moore, from Midsomer Norton, said her partner Hugh Bigger, 88, who has Alzheimer’s disease, was left lying on a bathroom floor for almost three hours after a fall.

Moore said he fell on 24 August and became trapped on the floor. Unable to lift him, she called 999 shortly after 14:00 BST and was told help would be arranged.

She said the case was later referred to HCRG and a staff member told her they were struggling to reach the appropriate falls service.

After further calls and a lengthy wait, Ms Moore contacted HCRG’s Single Point of Access herself.

She said she was then told the request for staff to attend had been declined and she should call 999 again.

“The fact was this was kicked into the long grass because that team had declined us, but nobody had rung us to tell us they could not do it,” she said.