A prevention of future deaths report has revealed more concern over ambulance availability, after an 84-year-old suffering a heart attack was told there would be a six-hour wait for an ambulance.
The report raised concern over the availability of ambulances after the patient was told there was high demand in the West Suffolk area that evening.
Dennis King had become unwell with sudden chest pain which extended down his arm on December 9, with an ambulance requested at 10.51pm that evening.
The call was first coded as Category 3, meaning a potentially urgent condition which is not life threatening with a target response of 120 minutes.
After a review in the call centre, it was re-coded to Category 2, a potentially serious condition with a response within 40 minutes and a target of 18 minutes.
Read more: Suffolk woman Gina Bywater died after 10-hour ambulance wait
An hour after the first call, Mrs King called again but was told the wait for an ambulance could be as long as six hours due to high demand in the area.
They decided to make their own way to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, where he was then told he should go to the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge for an urgent angioplasty procedure.
However, emergency department staff were then advised that there would be a five-hour delay for an ambulance.
An ambulance did not arrive until 4.36am, four and a half hours after the 84-year-old arrived in Bury St Edmunds.
The procedure was completed at the Royal Papworth Hospital without incident, but Mr King's condition deteriorated following surgery, he suffered a left ventricular wall rupture, and he sadly passed away three days later.
The report expressed concern over the availability of ambulances to carry out transfers, and confusion between ambulance and hospital staff in urgent transfers.
The investigation at the end of the inquest concluded the death was due to recognised complications following necessary emergency treatment for a heart attack.
The publication of the report comes after it emerged that several of EEAST's vehicles were out of action over the summer months and start of autumn after breaking down.
On one day last month, more than half the ambulances were off the road.
The Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) have been contacted for comment.
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