Woman waited nearly 24 hours for paramedics to arrive in Devon

Colin Stone is convinced earlier treatment would have saved his wife Maggie

A bereaved husband said his wife might still be alive had an ambulance not taken nearly 24 hours to arrive.

Colin Stone, from Marldon in south Devon, called for help on 23 December for his 80-year-old wife Maggie, who had a number of underlying health conditions.

Mrs Stone died in hospital four days later.

Mr Stone, 78, said he was "convinced" earlier treatment would have made a difference.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) confirmed it received the first call for help from the Stones at 12:01 GMT on 23 December and an ambulance arrived on 24 December at 11:56.

The service apologised for being unable to provide a timely response.

It had declared a critical incident three days prior to the request for help due to 700 calls waiting to be dispatched.

Maggie Stone died in hospital four days after waiting nearly 24 hours for an ambulance

Mr Stone said he was initially told an ambulance would arrive within two hours but "the time went on and on".

"I can't bring an adjective to mind that goes anywhere near describing my annoyance at the present system," he said.

"I was devastated... I'm definitely convinced she would have been on medication earlier, they would have been able to diagnose and know what was going on."

Remembering his wife, he said: "She was vivacious, she was dynamic, she was effervescent, she was my lifeboat."

South Western Ambulance Service declared a critical incident due to the number of calls

A spokeswoman for SWASFT said: "We are sorry that we were unable to provide a timely response to Mrs Stone.

"Our ambulance clinicians strive every day to deliver their best care for patients, but our performance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, partly due to handover delays at emergency departments.

"Health and social care services are under enormous pressure. We are working with our partners in the NHS and social care, to do all we can to improve the service that patients receive."

It comes amid one of the toughest winters ever for the NHS amid a shortage of beds, extreme waiting times and strike action from frontline staff.

Up to 25,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales walked out in a dispute with the government over pay.