A GRIEVING Stonehouse man claims NHS staff failed his dying father. Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust has launched an investigation after Ian Rice lodged an official complaint.

He claims his 70-year-old father Godfrey Rice, of Paganhill, Stroud, was neglected days before his death last Monday.

"Dad may still be alive today if he was given proper medical attention when he needed it," said Ian, 33.

"I want a formal apology, I am very angry about this and I don't want it to happen to anyone else."

Having called Stroud's Locking Hill Surgery after finding Godfrey looking very unwell, Ian was put through to the out-of-hours doctors' service at 2.30pm on the Saturday before his father died after a battle with lung cancer.

The family then had to wait nearly seven hours for a doctor to arrive. "I am very annoyed at how long it took for a doctor to come and see dad, and how long it took them to phone us back", said Ian.

When a doctor did phone at 3.30pm, the family were told he was very busy and they should wait for an ambulance if they were really worried.

An ambulance was called immediately, but paramedics advised that Godfrey's readings were normal for a man with his condition.

They did, however, suggest he may need treatment at Cheltenham General Hospital's oncology department, where he had been a patient, but this would need a doctor's authorisation.

Paramedics spoke to the on-duty doctor, but were not granted permission to take him there.

They said Godfrey - a former builder described as a 'loving grandfather' - should wait for the doctor to arrive.

"They said they could only take him to Gloucestershire Royal A&E and that he would just be waiting around there", said Ian.

"My point is that if he had gone to Gloucester, he could still be alive today." A doctor eventually arrived around 9.30pm on Saturday night - almost seven hours after Ian's initial call.

Agreeing with the paramedics, the doctor said Godfrey's condition was as could be expected, and the family reluctantly accepted his advice. "We could all see he needed to be in hospital," said Ian.

"He couldn't get up to answer the phone or go to the toilet. The family were in disbelief that dad wasn't admitted."

On Monday morning, an ambulance took Godfrey to Gloucestershire Royal after he was found collapsed on the living room floor, and he later died there.

Cotswold and Vale confirmed an investigation was underway. Complaints manager Shirley Bilson was unable to comment further while it was being carried out, but she said: "Obviously we are extremely sympathetic to Mr Rice and his family."

A separate investigation looking at the ambulance service's response has also been launched.

* Godfrey's funeral is at St Matthew's Church, Cainscross on Thursday, October 20 at 1.30pm.