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A mum-of-four from Birmingham who was promised a “blue light response” died from a heart attack after waiting 11 hours for an ambulance after calling 999. Hannah Houghton, 36, was struggling to breathe when her Fiance James Jackman called emergency services at 7:20pm on December 18.

But first responders only got to Ms Houghton in her home in King’s Norton, Birmingham at 6.15am the next morning.

She was rushed to her local hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, just three miles from her house.

Ms Houghton, who suffered from Cystic Fibrosis, was treated for dangerously low blood pressure and transferred to an intensive care unit. But she suffered a fatal cardiac arrest and died on December 22.

Her fiance Mr Jackman, who believes his lover could have been saved if she was attended to quicker, has said he is not blaming the paramedics who arrived late.

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Instead, he has attacked the Government for the ordeal.

He described Ms Houghton as a “fighter” and said she sat with her for ten minutes before she died.

Mr Jackman, a builder, said: “Who knows really but I think that if treatment had started 11 previously then we could be facing a different situation.

“Instead we have four children without a mother.

“It could have made a difference.

“I was told I would get a blue light response but there could be a delay.

“I sat up with her until 6.15 in the morning when they turned up. I couldn’t believe the delay.

“I was trying to make her as comfortable as possible throughout the night and kept keeping an eye on her.”

He said when the paramedics arrived, he could see they were exhausted and as a result doesn’t blame them for her death.

He added: “They did a great job and got Hannah to hospital on a blue light as quickly as possible.

“I am not putting fault on them.

“This problem lies further up in the Government.

“I know you can’t predict what would have happened if she was seen to earlier, but it could have made all the difference.”

This week, the NHS

Over a dozen hospitals have declared a critical incident and resorted to taking urgent action, such as moving patients to non-bedded areas.

NHS chiefs say the current crisis in the health service is unprecedented.

Around the Christmas period, Tracy Bullock, Chief Executive of University Hospitals of North Midlands, said: “I’ve been in the NHS for 38 years and of those I’ve worked 32 Christmas and this has been the most difficult Christmas that I’ve ever witnessed.”

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