a devoted husband who complained about his dying wife's care was mistakenly investigated for attempted murder after an nhs call handler misunderstood his comments john histon called the health service after allegedly being told by a paramedic that call outs to his wife betty were 'becoming costly' mr histon said he told the 111 operator: 'i suppose it is best to get her to suffocate and she won't be a problem to you' the 70 year old was then horrified when police turned up on his door 24 hours later saying ambulance trust staff reported he was threatening to kill his wife a paramedic is said to have moaned that call outs to terminally ill betty histon were 'becoming costly' when her husband complained to the nhs he was investigated for attempted murder over comments he made  after searching his home in bristol and finding mrs histon   who had chronic lung conditions   asleep in bed, they dropped the investigation and the nhs has since apologised mr histon, who has since lost his wife to long standing lung problems, said his and her treatment in her final days was 'shocking' the retired decorator from  bristol said: 'when they turned up on the door they asked me 'do you know why we are here?', i assumed there had been a break in in the area 'they said they had an allegation that i have tried to smother my wife   i thought it was a hoax i was shocked and nearly hit the floor 'i never deserted her and cared for her right to the very end so it was very distressing to be accused and i was very angry' former auxiliary nurse mrs histon had a lung condition and her concerned husband called for paramedics on december 15 when she was struggling to breathe he claims the paramedics who attended said the call outs to the grandmother were 'becoming a costly exercise' mr histon said: 'the young female paramedic said 'what do you expect, there is no point in admitting her to hospital, there is nothing we can do for her' 'she was quite cocky about it and she said looking at the notes it looks like they had been called out quite frequently and it was becoming 'a costly exercise'' mr histon called the nhs 111 service   who work with the ambulance service   the next day to lodge a complaint an ambulance was called to mrs histon's suburban street (pictured) in bristol by her husband police arrived the following day after an nhs call handler misunderstood comments he made over the phone  'i said to the operator i suppose it is best to get her to suffocate and she won't be a problem to you again to try and emphasise how upsetting it was to be told we were some kind of burden to them,' he said 'i thought nothing of it until the next evening i got a knock on the door from the police 'they said they had received an allegation i had tried to smother my wife they said it was from the ambulance' mrs histon died in january from bronchopneumonia and mr histon is considering legal action against south western ambulance service nhs foundation trust over his and his wife's treatment a spokesman for the trust said: 'mr histon raised concerns regarding advice he had been given by one of the ambulance crews who attended his wife 'he also had concerns about a safeguarding referral made following mr histon's comments about it being 'best to get her to suffocate' 'the trust has given mr histon sincere condolences following the loss of his wife, and is sorry that he took offence from the advice given to him by the ambulance service 'the trust has also confirmed that the safeguarding referral to the police could have been managed differently, however, due to the number of vulnerable people the trust comes into contact with, staff are always very sensitive to such comments 'mr histon has confirmed that he will be pursuing some form of financial compensation and although he has received a full response from the trust regarding his complaint, should he feel there are any elements he still requires further clarification on we would urge him to get in touch' south western ambulance service nhs foundation trust, based in exeter (pictured), has apologised 
70 year old bristol oap nhs
70 year old says paramedic told him call outs to his wife were 'costly' the pensioner, from bristol, phoned nhs to complain about the comments  he told call handler: 'i suppose it's best to get her to suffocate' but his complaints were misunderstood and handed on to police  oap was then questioned and had his home searched by officers  nhs has now apologised to the elderly man, whose wife has since died 