A WIDOWER whose wife died after a three-hour wait for an ambulance is asking for promises that the circumstances of her death will never be repeated.

Mark Stillman, 44, from Warminster said lessons had to be learned after mother-of-two Beverley Stillman, 43, died on the way to hospital in September.

At an inquest held in Flax Boulton, near Bristol, on Friday, coroner Brian Whitehouse recorded a verdict of natural causes, saying he was not permitted to comment on the four-and-a-half-hour delay in getting Mrs Stillman, who had blood poisoning, to hospital.

Medical experts said the wait could have contributed to her death and Mr Stillman, of Upper Marsh Road, Warminster, is demanding major changes to the zero-rated Wiltshire Ambulance Trust.

Mr Stillman, father of Nicole, two, and Angela, 12, said: "I want to try and put this behind me but I can't until I feel they are providing a good service. I need closure but that will only happen if they make sure this never happens again.

"It is ridiculous. I was brought up believing when you called an ambulance it would arrive pretty damn quick.

"I have seen signs of improvement in the Trust but there is a long way to go. What is the point in having league tables and giving them zero stars if nothing is done about it? "It is not just the ambulance service. There needs to be changes all the way through the NHS. We were never even told the abscesses she was suffering from could be fatal."

The inquest heard an ambulance was called to the Stillman's home at 6.10pm on September 27 to take her to the Royal United Hospital, Bath for antibiotic treatment for an abscess.

After a check call and an emergency call, the ambulance arrived at 9.20pm. Mr Stillman described the crew as appearing to have "no sense of urgency". The ambulance left at 10pm and during the journey to hospital Mrs Stillman's heart stopped. She was declared dead 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital at 10.55pm.

A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death was septicaemia and perianal abscess but her GP Dr Greenwood, who had called the ambulance, believed things could have been different.

At the inquest he said he was shocked when he learned she was dead five hours after he had seen her and told the coroner Mrs Stillman would have had a better chance of survival had she got to hospital sooner.

Tim Skelton, acting chief executive of Wiltshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said in a statement read to the inquest the Trust had fielded a number of other calls which took priority.

Response times now aim for ambulances to arrive in 19 minutes and within 100 minutes.