A seriously ill retired GP forced to wait outside her local hospital in the back of an ambulance had her ''life saved'' by her family - who drove her 300 miles to one in London instead.
Dr Alison Durkin, 61, woke up with chest pains and called 999 - but waited hours outside Royal Cornwall Hospital.
The hospital has declared an internal 'critical incident' due to 'acute pressure' on beds - with patients forced to wait outside in queues of over 30 ambulances.
