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A 94-year-old stroke victim was carted around for more than two hours in the back of an ambulance, relatives say, because the crew got lost.
They claim that Doris Reeder, of Folkestone, felt she was going to pass out during the journey.
The private service contractors said they had been given the wrong postcode for what should have been a simple 20-minute journey but insist that the journey was less than two hours. They have apologised to the family.
Grandaughter Karon Lewis said: “It took days to get my nan back on an even keel. She had got really worked up.
"She thought she was dying in that ambulance. We were told it had got lost. It is not good enough.”
Mrs Reeder, of Wear Bay Road, was being transported nine miles from the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford to the Halden Heights care home in Ashford Road, High Halden.
She was driven, sitting in a wheelchair, from the hospital at 2.30pm last Wednesday, September 4 and arrived at 4.50pm as relatives anxiously waited for her at the home.
Miss Lewis, of White Cliffs Caravan Park, Capel-le-Ferne, said: “We arrived at the home at 2.50pm and waited. We started to get concerned and phoned the hospital and they said she should be here by now.
“Finally the ambulance arrived and the crew said that they had been given the wrong postcode.
“Nan was crying and very upset and said she thought she was going to pass out. It should never have taken this long. We just don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
Mrs Reeder, a widow, had been taken to the Harvey as an emergency admission on July 25 after suffering a stroke and stayed at the Richard Stevens 1 Stroke Unit.
After the six-week stay she was being transported to the High Halden home for three weeks’ respite care.
The journey is a nine-mile route, from Junction 10 to 9 of the M20 and then down the A28.
Mrs Reeder had been transported by the private Meditech UK Ambulance Service for the regular contractors NSL Care Services.
Meditech, of Brunswick Road, Ashford, say the journey had been an hour and 40 minutes and the delay had been caused by being given the wrong destination details by NSL.
Managing director Nigel Patten said: “The crew was given the wrong address by NSL and ended up travelling three-and-a-half miles out.
“It was also given the wrong postcode by NSL and when they Googled for the correct address that also gave the wrong one. We have apologised profusely to the family.”
Mr Patten added air conditioning in the ambulance would have been able to prevent Mrs Reeder suffering from the heat.
"She thought she was dying in that ambulance. We were told it had got lost. It is not good enough” - Mrs Reader's grandaughter Karon Lewis
The family has been told that NSL were this week due to provide a report explaining what had happened.
A spokesperson for NSL said: “We acknowledge that the wrong postcode was given by NSL to Meditech, which resulted in the delay. We apologise and we are working very hard to bring the service up the highest level.
“Since we started huge improvements have been made but any delay is not acceptable and we are aware of that. We will contact Mrs Reeder to apologise to her personally.”
