11-hour ambulance delay as UK healthcare hits crisis

Last July, 78-year-old Jacqueline Hulbert suffered a fall at home and was left lying on the floor for 11 hours waiting for an ambulance.

Her son Mathew Hulbert witnessed her "undignified" ordeal and has gone public to highlight the crisis within the overstretched state-funded health service.

Jacqueline, known as Jackie, died from sepsis two days after her admission to hospital.

While there may be no direct link between her death and her long wait for an ambulance, Mathew has spoken out on the family's experiences with the crisis-hit NHS public health provider.

Hulbert spoke to AFP in Barwell, a small town 100 miles (160 kilometres) north of London where he is a local councillor.

The 42-year-old has repeated his story numerous times but he still gets emotional as he remembers his mother's suffering last summer.

Early on July 10, he was woken up at 4:30 am by a call from the local council, saying his mother had fallen overnight and activated the emergency alarm she wore.

A friend drove him over and they called for an ambulance at 05:01 am.

"A paramedic in a car finally arrived at 4:00 pm, 11 hours later, and then she further called for an ambulance which arrived about half an hour after that," he said.

"My mum was then taken to a hospital where it was found that she got an infection that turned to sepsis and she died two days later."