‘Lovely’ dad, 58, died after family phoned three times for an ambulance

27 January 2024 , 07:00

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Iqbal with his daughters

A caring dad died waiting for an ambulance after three 999 calls and now his family are among those handing in a petition to Rishi Sunak, demanding better funding for the NHS.

Caring husband, father and grandfather Iqbal Rahman died aged 58 on Christmas Eve, 2022, after falling seriously ill – despite three such calls amid the worst ever crisis to hit the NHS.

His daughter, Minnie Rahman said her dad “nobody was coming to help him” as he deteriorated on Christmas Eve but she refused to blame NHS staff, saying: “The Government created this situation.” Calling 999 for an ambulance can no longer be relied upon to save the life of a loved one, the grieving family has told the Mirror.

Now, Iqbal's widow, speech therapist Sania Rahman, is among those handing in the petition to 10 Downing Street. Samina, from Birmingham, said: “It’s incredibly painful to talk about what happened but we’re determined that people know the real life-impacts of starving our NHS of resources. I always thought that if I called an ambulance when I really needed one it would come. My trust was irrevocably broken that night but I am determined to rebuild it.”

Iqbal with his daughters when they were kids

Daughter Minnie said: “My dad felt in his final hours that nobody was coming to help him, it’s really difficult for me and my family to live with.” But Minnie does not hold the ambulance service or NHS responsible – instead she blames years of Government underfunding.

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Minnie blasted: “It is clearly not enough. At this point the Tories cannot be trusted. For 13 years they’ve underfunded and privatised the NHS, leaving it in this disastrous state. They’re too far late for the many of us grieving loved ones who didn’t get help when we needed it. I don’t think any of my family ever thought that if you call the ambulance they won’t come when it’s that bad. And it was that bad – Dad died. My mum is just devastated”

On a Christmas Eve of chaos, West Midlands Ambulance Service received its first call from Iqbal’s family at 7.07pm. Iqbal was triaged as a category 5 case, requiring a callback with advice from a paramedic or nurse. His family could not lift him into a car to take him to hospital and 40 minutes later, as Iqbal’s condition deteriorated, they called 999 again.

This time he was triaged as category 2 and an ambulance was dis-patched – then diverted to a higher priority call. When Iqbal stopped breathing the family rang a third time at 8.04pm. Guidelines state an ambulance should arrive within an about seven minutes after this. It arrived at 8.28pm.

Iqbal was a much loved father

A long queue of patients line a corridor at Aintree Hospital (Liverpool echo)

Paramedics worked on Iqbal for over 90 minutes with no success. A WMAS spokeswoman said: “We would like to apologise to the Rahman family for the delayed response and offer our condolences. At the time of the call, the Trust was experiencing long hospital handover delays.”

Iqbal was due to spend Christmas at an Airbnb in Hereford with Minnie’s mum Samina, 58, her sister Sana, 36, and Sana’s children. When he arrived, Iqbal was already feeling poorly. His wife Samina believed her husband of 38 years was suffering heart problems. Minnie, a consultant, said: “He was complaining of extreme shoulder pain, had a very high temperature and was excessively sweating. It was first advised that it could be due to his diabetes. It wasn’t until his breathing stopped that paramedics were sent.”

Iqbal, who worked in smart energy, had spent four years living in Manchester, and was due to move back in the family home in Birmingham. Minnie,, said: “He was extremely caring and funny, quite silly. It should not have been my dad who died in this way and it shouldn’t be anybody else’s.” Minnie said her father’s death was also “heartbreaking” for paramedics: “They should be getting to people at a stage where they can help. How many families will be traumatised before the Government does what it has to do and funds the NHS properly?”

Natasha Wynarczyk