AMBULANCE bosses have issued a formal apology to the family of a grandmother who died while waiting almost four hours for an ambulance.

Marie Norris, 81, died alone in her home in Abbigail Gardens, Clacton, after calling 999 to complain of chest pains at about 8pm on January 2.

Ms Norris lived less than a mile from the town’s ambulance station, but it took three hours and 45 minutes for paramedics to reach her on what the East of England Ambulance Service said was one of its busiest days of the year.

Mrs Norris had stopped breathing by the time paramedics reached her.

Clacton MP Giles Watling called for an inquiry and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted a link to the Gazette’s report of the incident, adding “this should not be happening in our country”.

Mr Watling wrote to the trust's chief executive Robert Morton calling for answers.

In reply, Mr Morton said the trust has completed a “full and thorough investigation” into the case and has developed an action plan in response.

The trust said Ms Norris’ call was correctly categorised as Category 2, meaning it should have responded in 18 minutes.

Mr Watling said the trust could be doing more to ensure that such a tragic event does not happen again.

He said: “While I would like to thank the trust for their reply, I believe it is simply unacceptable that Ms Norris was not seen within the target time, given the symptoms she was experiencing.

“I am pleased that the trust have identified areas in which they could improve.

“However, I will continue to press the trust to ensure that a tragic incident like this does not happen again.”

Gazette:

  • "Unacceptable" - Clacton MP Giles Watling said the four hour wait was unacceptable, given the symptoms Ms Norris was experiencing.

Mr Watling will meet ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care to discuss the issues in more detail.

The East of England Ambulance Service was previously criticised in Parliament for a delay in moving into its highest state of emergency.

A whistleblower said senior operational managers wanted to move the service to its so-called REAP 4 – the Resource Escalation Action Plan - status on December 19 but the decision was not taken until December 31.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: “Our sincere condolences go out to the family and friends of Ms Norris and we have offered a formal apology for the delayed response.

“A full and thorough investigation into the incident has been completed by the Trust and we are committed to delivering the action plan that has been developed following this investigation. The final report will be shared with family in due course.”