A SON has today spoken of his disgust after his 95-year-old mum spent her last day alive in agonising pain waiting nearly four hours for an ambulance to take her to hospital.

Eric Dennington said there was nothing he could do for his mum Nora, who suffered from dementia, except sit and reassure her as she repeatedly said, “I just want to die.”

He said: “She had agonising stomach pain and we were told the ambulance would be a blue light job and would be with her very quickly – by the time she got to hospital it was nearly four hours.

“I couldn’t do anything for her and it was difficult for her to move because she was in such pain. I couldn’t give her anything – I’m not a medical man and as far as I knew the ambulance would be there any minute. The doctor had told us it would be a blue light job. When the reception rang to see where the ambulance was they were told it was on its way.”

Mr Dennington, who lives with his wife Joyce at Dawson Drive, Trimley St Mary, and worked at East Anglian Building Supplies in Felixstowe 20 years, said when the ambulance arrived it was a St John Ambulance but they were not able to administer the morphine his mum needed. A paramedic then had to be called.

“No-one should have to wait for an ambulance that length of time in any circumstances. I was disgusted,” he said.

“We keep reading of similar cases and the situation doesn’t seem to get any better. I feel very let down.”

In addition to making a formal complaint to the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, he had also written to his MP Therese Coffey to voice his concern.

An ambulance was called at 3.31pm but one was not dispatched until 6.36pm, arriving at her home at Deben View care home in Woodbridge just after 7pm.

There was then a further nine-minute delay until a paramedic could arrive and after that Mrs Dennington was taken to Ipswich Hospital.

She died the following day but her family stress that her death had no connection with the delay in the ambulance’s arrival.