12 out of 13 ambulances on a break as gran lay dying

HEAD BLOW

THE family of a gran who died after a fall are furious having learned no ambulance attended as 12 out of 13 crews on duty were on their breaks.

Lynda Manning, 68, tripped and hit her head at the end of daughter Paula’s birthday party, an inquest heard.

Family members made several 999 calls over an hour before taking her to hospital themselves.

Lynda died the next day after undergoing emergency neurosurgery.

Only one ambulance in Wiltshire was available to respond but was not in Swindon when she was injured on October 1, 2017.

Lynda’s widower Richard said after the inquest: “I’d never had to phone an ambulance before and the one time I needed one, they failed me. Watching her on the floor, crying out that nobody’s coming to help her, was horrible.”

Daughter Paula added: “I hope I never have to have an ambulance called for me, the thought fills me with fear.”

The call was classed as “amber”, then upgraded to “red”. But crews would not interrupt breaks unless the emergency was “purple” – the highest category.

Paul Birkett-wendes, of South West Ambulance Service Trust, told the inquest: “During hours of high demand, they go from emergency to emergency. After a point, they have to have a protected break.”

Wiltshire Coroner Dr Claire Balyscz ruled the delay did not contribute to Lynda’s death. She recorded a verdict of accidental death due to “non-survivable brain injury”.

ON SHOCK AMBULANCE WAIT

Lynda before the accident Richard and his daughter Paula