Anger over nine-hour wait for GP

Annette Stemmer said she was frantic with worry for her husband who was in pain

A cancer patient was taken to hospital by an ambulance after waiting nine hours for an out-of-hours GP in Suffolk.

Annette Stemmer repeatedly called for a GP for her husband Steven when he was in intense pain on Saturday.

It later emerged Mr Stemmer had a blood clot on his lung.

Private company Take Care Now, which runs the service, said it had received an unprecedented number of calls at the weekend.

It usually receives about 1,300, but this increased to 1,800, the company said.

A spokesman added that it was working to understand what happened.

'So much pain'

Mrs Stemmer said she had become "frantic" after calling the out-of-hours GP service several times.

She received assurances that help was on its way, but a doctor had still not arrived nine hours after her initial call.

"I just wanted help and no doctor came," she added.

"He couldn't move because he was in so much pain."

Take Care provides cover for health trusts covering East Cambridgeshire and Fenland, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, Essex, Suffolk and Worcestershire.

NHS Suffolk said it monitors the overall standards of the out-of-hours service, including complaints or other matters.

The Care Quality Commission, which refused to comment on the incident, is due to publish its findings on a separate case involving Take Care Now.

A German doctor was working for the service when his negligence led to the death a patient in Cambridgeshire in February 2008.