Family's anguish as Kidderminster mum died after waiting hours to speak to GP

Helena Maffei spent almost two hours trying to make a GP appointment, her daughter said

A woman has called for changes following the death of her mother who had waited almost two hours on the phone trying to reach her GP.

Helena Maffei, 55, from Kidderminster, collapsed as a doctor called her back, Gaetana Maffei said.

Flowers and messages have been left outside the bakery she ran with her husband.

Wyre Forest Health Partnership said it would not comment on individual cases, but investigated all complaints.

Ms Maffei said her mum had been "the heart and soul" of Kidderminster, would talk to anyone and "everyone warmed to her".

"Only yesterday, I was organising the flowers outside the gates, three strangers came up and said she was going to be missed, they could not believe she was gone," she added.

Her mother ran Continental Bakery on Stourbridge Road for 35 years with her husband, Tony, and the couple lived above the shop.

Helena Maffei (bottom left) had run a bakery with her husband Tony for 35 years and had a son and a daughter

On Thursday, Ms Maffei, 30, said her mother woke feeling unwell with difficulty breathing and decided to call her GP at about 08:30 BST.

Stuck in a long queue on the phone, she eventually managed to speak to the surgery at 10:15, to be told a doctor would call her later in the morning.

But when the doctor called at 11:40, her daughter said she "went into a panic", had a fit or seizure and collapsed.

Her son, Giuseppe, who was with her, called an ambulance and started giving her CPR until paramedics arrived, but Mrs Maffei was pronounced dead at about 12:25.

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Messages, cards and flowers of condolence have flowed in since her mother's death, but Ms Maffei said she wanted to make sure nobody else had to go through the same experience.

"It is just an awful effect of the pandemic that we are waiting to see a doctor now, but something so terrible like this happens, it does raise questions," she said.

"Could they have another emergency line for the doctor as well as a line for doctors' appointments? I do not know what can be done, but I hope something is taken seriously."

Flowers and tributes have been left outside the bakery in Kidderminster

She added the family had been told further investigations would have to be carried out to establish why her mum died, which could take up to four months.

A spokesperson from Wyre Forest Health Partnership, which manages Mrs Maffei's GP surgery, said it would not comment on individual patient cases.

"However we will always speak with patients, their families or representatives and investigate with them, where there are concerns or complaints," they added.