THE widow of a pensioner who suffered a stroke and died after delays in transporting him to hospital says the apology she received from the ambulance service is "not good enough".
East Midlands Ambulance Service has said sorry to Ruth Mallalieu (pictured) for the "unacceptable delay" in reaching her husband, John, after she dialled 999.
Mr Mallalieu suffered a stroke but, although a first-responder paramedic arrived at the scene within nine minutes, "organisational issues" in the control centre meant an ambulance was delayed from being dispatched by up to 55 minutes.
EMAS has reviewed the 89-year-old's treatment and apologised to his widow, saying the "service was not to the high standard that it should have been".
But Mrs Mallalieu said: "Of course I'm not happy – they keep apologising, but that doesn't really help. I'm still disgusted. You don't want to see someone else go through this."
The first-responder called King's Mill Hospital, in Sutton-in-Ashfield, from the couple's home in Caunton, to tell medics that an ambulance would be taking him in.
When the delayed ambulance crew called again, they were told that Mr Mallalieu could no longer be taken to King's Mill as its stroke unit was due to close to admissions at 5pm and were diverted to Nottingham City Hospital.
At the City Hospital, medics discovered Mr Mallalieu's stroke had been caused by a clot. This problem is usually treated by thrombolysis – a clot-busting drug available at King's Mill and City hospitals, which was given within the recommended time. But Mr Mallalieu died two days later.
EMAS director of operations Richard Henderson told the Post: "I, along with the chief executive [Sue Noyes], went to the home address of Mrs Mallalieu and apologised in person unreservedly.
"We have made changes to the way we operate and work in partnership with Sherwood Forest Hospitals to make sure there's no repeat of this."