NEIGHBOURS LEFT TO DO CPR AFTER 999 DELAYS

Coroner says ‘blunder’ was not a factor after man died in flat

PARAMEDICS arrived at a man’s flat 20 minutes late – after a call-handler mistakenly ‘stood down’ the original crew.

An inquest heard a concerned neighbour had dialled 999 after finding Stuart Simpkin, aged 55, on his settee in an unresponsive state.

Steven Peake was joined by fellow resident Michael Stevenson, who helped him administer CPR.

It was only after they made a second call that the ambulance staff arrived at the scene in London Road, Oakhill.

But North Staffordshire coroner Andrew Barkley ruled that the delay in the ambulance response made no material difference.

He said: “The evidence from the scene leads me to conclude that Mr Simpkin had already passed away.”

Mr Barkley did note that the callhandler’s actions in ‘misinterpreting’ the original information was a ‘failure to follow proper policy’.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has since carried out an investigation, along with refresher training.

The inquest was told Mr Simpkin, who was a heavy drinker, had been taken to hospital just weeks before his death after falling downstairs in the apartment block.

He had fractured his vertical column and numerous ribs. After being discharged, he returned home in considerable pain.

Mr Peake had left one of his dogs with Mr Simpkin overnight on August 24. The following morning, he returned to find his friend snoring on the settee.

But hours later, Mr Peake grew concerned and asked Mr Stevenson to knock on his door.

Mr Peake let himself into the flat when there was no response. “I saw Stuart,” he said in a statement.

“He was in the same position as the morning. His lips had turned blue.”

Tests subsequently revealed Mr Simpkin had a variety of medication in his system, including morphine. Although each drug was at a ‘therapeutic’ level, the mix was likely to have been fatal. His cause of death was due to combined opiate and benzodiazepine effect, with myocardial fibrosis.

Jo Kavanagh, investigating officer for the ambulance service, told the inquest the person who took the original 999 call had heard that the patient was ‘cold’. They took this to mean he had already passed away and so stood down the response.

But after the second call 17 minutes later, paramedics were sent straight out. Ms Kavanagh said: “There’s been a review and re-issue of the procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Mr Barkley concluded: “This was a drug-related death, with a background of natural disease.”