Health chiefs have apologised after a Winchester woman had to endure a 10-hour wait for a doctor to confirm her husband's death.

Retired naval captain, Michael Parry (72), suffered from bone cancer. He died at his Itchen Valley home on August 28th, at about 6.45pm. His wife, Fiona, called the out-of-hours service as their GP surgery was closed, but it was not until 4.45am the next day that a doctor arrived.

Now Mrs Parry and her son, William, want a shake-up of the emergency cover service, with more doctors and better communication. William, a marketing executive, said: "We want to share the facts, because people need to be aware the local out-of-hours service does not appear to be working."

Mid-Hampshire Primary Care Trust has issued a statement apologising for "any additional distress" caused to the family. It is also investigating the causes of the delay.

Responsibility for the out-of-hours service was transferred to the PCT last July. It now provides emergency cover in the Winchester area at weekends and nights in partnership with Primecare, the main private firm providing out-of-hours care to NHS patients in England. The Government target for a "less urgent" home visit, such as certification of death, is six hours.

Mrs Parry, who nursed her husband at home, said: "I don't want to criticise the NHS, because we have had such a lot of help. I had wonderful home care from district nurses and the St Paul's Surgery in Winchester. I can't fault them.

"The problem is with Primecare and the weekend service, which isn't working, particularly in Winchester. The whole system appeared to collapse.

"The surgery did say there might be a delay, but when I told them it was the next day, they were absolutely shocked."

After a three-hour wait, William, who lives at the family home, called Primecare again. He then called hourly. Each time, he had to repeat his father's details, only to be given a series of excuses for the delay, including the doctor's car breaking down.

The calls were taken by Primecare at its Birmingham call centre, with a request passed to the PCT to dispatch a doctor. When a GP finally arrived from Southampton, he hadn't been briefed about Mr Parry's illness, despite his case history being logged on Primecare's computer. Mrs Parry had to answer a series of medical questions when she had just lost her husband.

Primecare, which also provides out-of-hours service to the New Forest, Eastleigh, Test Valley and Southampton City primary care trusts, issued a statement saying: "Responsibility for providing visits for requests received before 11pm lies with the PCTs. Primecare was not responsible for, and thus is unable to comment, on the visit delay in this case."

The company said a request was passed to the PCT at 6.55pm and reminder calls were made. Call handlers had to establish who they were talking to before divulging patient information. "This process had to be followed for each call, which unfortunately, requires an element of repetition."

A statement from the PCT said: "We apologise for any additional distress caused and wish to express our condolences. The PCT is investigating why the delays occurred and we will be responding to William Parry personally.

"In the meantime, we would like to explain that responding to emergencies is the primary concern of the service and these are given priority over the verification of death."