FAMILY of asthma sufferer David Halley-Frame are today preparing to lodge a formal complaint with health bosses after finding out an ambulance took even longer to get to him than they were first told.

By SARAH GILLETT, health reporter, sarah.gillett@eveningstar.co.uk>

FAMILY of asthma sufferer David Halley-Frame are today preparing to lodge a formal complaint with health bosses after finding out an ambulance took even longer to get to him than they were first told.

Mr Halley-Frame, 25, died in the early hours of August 27 after collapsing with a suspected asthma attack.

An ambulance had to come from Bury St Edmunds to treat him as there were no others available in the county at that time.

Initially his family was told the ambulance had taken 28 minutes to reach him, but at a meeting with ambulance trust staff this week they were told it had actually taken 31 minutes.

Janice Plumb, David's auntie, said: “This is the first time we have heard of this and I don't know why it's different to what we were first told.

“We just feel like we have been left with even more questions.”

The meeting was attended by Craig Gill, clinical field operations manager at Ipswich ambulance station, Rob Lawrence, the director of operations at the East Anglian Ambulance Trust, Mr Halley-Frame's parents and his aunt.

The family also queried the number of phone calls the ambulance trust claim were made to the control room as they say they have proof of at least four that were not mentioned on the information given to them.

Mrs Plumb, of Severn Road, Ipswich, said: “We've never tried to blame any one person but we want to make sure that something like this never happens again.

“We wanted reassurances for the future and I don't feel like we got them.

“We have given them a chance to explain but were disappointed with their response so we will now be filing a formal complaint.”

The ambulance trust is carrying out an on-going enquiry into Mr Halley-Frame's death in conjunction with the Strategic Health Authority.

They have also appointed independent consultants to carry out research in to the management of the increasing number of calls the trust receives.

Mr Lawrence said: “We had a very useful meeting with the family where we attempted to address some of their questions and concerns, and there are some issues they raised which we will be looking at further.

“We went through our initial findings with them but the inquiry is continuing and we will update them as it progresses.”

He said the 28-minute time given to them was measured from when the ambulance crew got the call. The 31-minutes was from the time the control room got the call.