An inquiry has been demanded into the death of a pensioner who survived a fire only to die after being sent to a hospital 80 miles away.
Elizabeth Byrne, a 65-year-old mother-of-two, lost both her sons, Martin aged 45, and Ian, aged 40, in the fire at their home in Highgate, Birmingham.
She suffered 32 per cent burns to her body and was listed an urgent case but there was no room for her at the specialist burns unit at Selly Oak Hospital and she was driven to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, where she died from her injuries.
Health watchdog Coun Deirdre Alden said: "In a case like this a patient needs treatment as soon as possible. This is the second city and for someone to be injured here to have to travel to Manchester is an utter disgrace."
Selly Oak Hospital has one of the best specialist burns units in the country and is used to treat injured soldiers from Iraq.
But at the time of the fire there were no beds available.
A hospital spokesman said: "We were unable to provide treatment for Elizabeth Byrne because she required care in an isolation cubicle on the intensive care unit, which was not available at the time."
The hospital spokesman rejected claims that its involvement with the army had any impact on the death of Mrs Byrne.
She said: "Selly Oak Hospital's partnership with the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine is not relevant to this case. We have an agreement with the RCDM, setting out the maximum number of patients who can be treated at Selly Oak."
