A devastated family claim they were forced to wait 13 hours with their father's body before a doctor arrived to certify he had died.
Aubrey Langford, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), passed away suddenly at his home in Torquay, Devon, on February 8, while his son, also called Aubrey, and daughter Susan were visiting him.
At 3.15pm, they called 999 after the 67-year-old drew his last breath, Devon Live reports.
They said they were told there was nothing the emergency service could do as he had died and they should ring 111.
After doing so, Aubrey and Susan were told someone from Devon Doctors would be sent out to them.
They claim as nobody arrived, they rang again a couple of hours later.
Susan recalled: "They apologised and said they were extremely busy, and would get a doctor out to us as soon as possible."
At 8.30pm, more than five hours after Mr Langford died, a doctor called them and said someone would be sent out to certify his death.
A doctor arrived at 4.05am only after further calls throughout the night, the family claim.
Susan said: "The doctor looked at his eyes and confirmed he was deceased and said we could now phone the undertaker.
"Losing dad was obviously upsetting, but it was the fact we were stuck there with him for 13 hours. I just wanted it over and done with so I could go home and grieve with my family. I don't think I've grieved yet as I'm still in shock after sitting with him for so long.
"I'm disgusted and really disappointed by what happened. I know the NHS are pushed to the max, but the doctor was not even there for five minutes. I don't understand why we had to wait 13 hours."
Another of Mr Langford's daughters, Tania, arrived at his home shortly after his death.
She said: "I made some of the later calls and was made to feel like my dad was not important. The lasting memory I now have of my dad is the stiffness, the smell and him being cold and blue. He was not the healthiest man, but he was not expected to die.
"People should still be respected in life and death. They should have more doctors to deal with it all. When the call was made to 999 someone should of came out to confirm he had passed away, and gave more information to us or even explained the situation to us."
The family has lodged a formal complaint.
A spokesperson for Devon Doctors said: "Devon Doctors would like to express its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Aubrey Langford.
"Having been contacted by Mr Langford’s family, we fully appreciate their concerns, which are already being looked into. However, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further on this particular case until this process is complete.
"At the same time, it should be noted that last weekend was a particularly challenging one for integrated urgent care services across the country, with the coronavirus prompting a huge influx of calls to NHS 111 and Storm Ciara hampering the efforts of out-of-hours clinicians to visit patients in their homes."
