'My dying husband could not get an ambulance'

Ambulance bosses person apologised to the household of a antheral who died aft helium had a bosom onslaught but nary ambulance came.

Martin Clark, 68, started suffering with thorax pains astatine his location successful East Sussex connected 18 November - earlier immoderate onslaught enactment started successful the NHS.

His household rang 3 times for an ambulance and aft waiting 45 minutes drove him successful their car to hospital.

When they arrived, the begetter of 5 went into cardiac apprehension and, contempt receiving aesculapian attention, died.

His wife, Ann, said helium had been crying retired successful symptom and astatine 1 constituent wrote a enactment saying: "I don't deliberation I'm going to marque it. Love you."

Ms Clark told the BBC's Breakfast programme she perpetually wondered what would person happened had an ambulance arrived quickly.

Her hubby had had precocious humor unit but had been a "fit man".

"He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. He walked each day. That day, helium was retired determination with a chainsaw, cutting the hedge," she said.

"He was fto down precise badly. They should person come.

"The NHS is broken. Everybody is frightened if they get sick wherever tin they turn. Something needs to alteration - there's going to beryllium truthful galore deaths due to the fact that of this. It's terrible."

The South East Ambulance Service said: "We are precise atrocious we were incapable to supply a timely effect to Mr Clark. Our thoughts are with his household and we volition look into this.

"We are moving hard to respond to everyone who needs america arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable portion our services stay nether important pressure."

Ambulance services are meant to scope emergencies specified arsenic bosom attacks wrong 18 minutes connected average.

During November, the period Mr Clark died, the South East work averaged conscionable implicit 34 minutes for specified category-two calls.

This was really amended than the nationalist mean for that month, conscionable implicit 48 minutes.

Ambulance effect times person worsened dramatically implicit the past 2 years.

The Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch, which investigates incidents successful the NHS, has antecedently warned astir the hazard to patients.

One of the cardinal problems is the agelong delays crews look astatine mishap and exigency units.

The handover of patients should beryllium done wrong 15 minutes - but successful November, a 3rd of handovers took much than 30 minutes.

By the extremity of the December, this had risen to much than 40%.

Unions accidental diligent information is 1 of the cardinal reasons ambulance unit are striking. Wednesday saw the 2nd walkout of the wintertime by crews successful England and Wales.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said cases specified arsenic the Clarks' were "incredibly distressing".

"The quality betwixt beingness and decease tin beryllium a substance of minutes erstwhile idiosyncratic is having a bosom onslaught oregon stroke," she said.

"Extreme delays to exigency bosom and changeable attraction cannot go a caller normal.

"Healthcare unit are doing each they tin - but determination aren't capable of them and galore volition beryllium moving successful hard conditions without fit-for-purpose facilities.

"There are nary casual solutions but determination is simply a mode retired of this situation - if the NHS gets the important concern it needs to code the immense backlog of bosom care.

"It's besides captious that we get prevention backmost connected way to halt bosom attacks and strokes from happening successful the archetypal place."

The Department of Health and Social Care said it could not remark connected idiosyncratic cases but recognised the pressures the NHS was facing pursuing the pandemic and was "working tirelessly" to guarantee radical received the attraction they needed.

This included an other £750m being invested this wintertime to escaped up infirmary beds and unlock immoderate of the delays successful the emergency-care system.