THE family of a man who suffered a heart attack have told of their anger at waiting for more than two hours for an ambulance to drive him two minutes to the nearest hospital.

The 85-year-old man, who wishes to remain anonymous, fell ill while at home - less than half a mile from Eastbourne District General hospital.

His wife, 83, called an ambulance to their house on the afternoon of Saturday, February 12.

But his family say it was a further two hours and ten minutes until emergency services arrived.

Secamb said it was "sorry the family is unhappy with the service they received". 

The Argus: The man waited more than two hours for an ambulanceThe man waited more than two hours for an ambulance

His son told The Argus: “My mum thought he was dying - and he did too.

“After the initial call there was no further contact from the emergency services.

"My dad is currently in hospital awaiting further investigation, but we can’t visit because of Covid-19.”

He said his dad had a “funny turn” in the early afternoon, resulting in a minor heart attack.

The man and his wife were unable to drive to hospital, and their son was away in London watching a football match at this time.

He is now in hospital in a stable condition.

Secamb is understood to be "extremely busy" at the moment with it "taking longer than is expected to reach some patients".

The ambulance service added that all calls are prioritised by "clinical triage" and not by proximity to a hospital, ambulance station or nearest vehicle.

A spokesman said: “We take all concerns raised seriously and we are sorry the family is unhappy with the service they received.

“Based on the information provided by the caller, the call was categorised as a Category Three call which we aim to respond to within two hours.

“We are sorry we took longer than we would like to attend and would invite the family to contact us directly so we can look into their concerns in more detail.”