Widow's husband dies 'after ambulances unable to respond'

On the day doctors warned A&E departments are struggling to cope, a widow has told ITV News her husband died after waiting 50 minutes for an ambulance - only later to be told by the ambulance service that they were delayed trying to hand patients over to hospital staff.

ITV News Wales correspondent Emily Morgan reports:

Joyce Pring believes her husband Fred could still be alive if an ambulance had been available to respond to her 999 call.

Mrs Pring called the emergency services after her husband, who had a heart condition, awoke in the early hours of the morning with chest pains.

As his condition worsened Mrs Pring called the emergency services twice more, but no ambulance arrived.

"At 1:45am Fred could take no more - he said ‘I’m going’ then slumped back on the pillow, stopped breathing and passed away", Mrs Pring said.

After she called 999 for a fourth time to report her husband had died, three ambulances arrived at her home in Mynydd Isa, in North Wales. Paramedics were unable to revive him.

The chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Elwyn Price-Morris, told Mrs Pring the Trust was unable to respond to her call "because there were no resources to send".

Mr Price-Morris wrote:

Mrs Pring said: "I think it would have made a huge difference if the ambulance had come, say within 15 minutes, I think he could have been helped definitely".

Asked whether she thought her husband would be alive today if the ambulance had arrived sooner, Mrs Pring said: "I have to say yes, I think he probably would. I do".

"Obviously I can't bring him back, but I just feel that he could have had a bit longer, and we would have enjoyed spring together, the summer together ... who knows, you just don't know the answer, but I think he would have still been here yes".

A spokesperson for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: