A TERMINALLY ill grandmother with brain cancer has told of her two-hour wait for an ambulance while suffering excruciating pain.

She said her husband had to call three times after district nurses said she must be admitted to hospital.

Eventually her husband drove her to the hospital but she then had to wait in the A&E waiting room, still in agony, before she could be seen.

Finally, more than three hours after the first call for an ambulance at 11.45pm, she was given morphine at 3am at Forth Valley Hospital to ease the pain.

Margaret Goodman, 58, from Sauchie in Clackmannanshire, said she was shocked at the service and called on the Health Secretary, Shona Robison to resign.

The retired teacher’s case was raised with Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister’s questions by the Labour leader, Richard Leonard.

He said that Mrs Goodman was one of 16,000 patients who had to wait more than one hour for an ambulance.

Mrs Goodman said she was shocked to find out 16,000 people waited more than an hour as she told her story.

She said: “Because I am terminal and have a palliative care package I thought it would have been quicker.

“I was in agony.”

Asked if the Heath Secretary should resign, she said: “I think she should. I was shocked. It is scary. Who else is responsible? She is the one at the top.”

Mr Leonard had asked Ms Sturgeon if Mrs Goodman’s experience was acceptable and said the Health Secretary should resign.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The circumstances I would say are unacceptable. I will undertake to personally look into the case. We expect the highest standards."

When told Mrs Goodman was in the Parliament gallery, she added: "Mrs Goodman deserves an apology and I offer that today."

She also said the Health Secretary would be available to meet with Mrs Goodman if she wanted to take up the offer.

Her husband, Gavin, said: “I thought the care was appalling. No-one wants to be in that pain. The call handling let us down not the ambulance crews or the district nurses.

“There is an ambulance station a quarter of a mile from our house.”

Mr Leonard said: “Scotland’s health service staff are being failed; those district nurses, our hospital doctors and ambulance crews are being failed by the SNP government.

“The question for Nicola Sturgeon is simple - how much more failure must people endure, before she realises that we need a change in our NHS starting with a change of Health Secretary?”