Man died in hospital after 32-hour wait for ambulanceamidstrike
INQUEST TOLD HE’D PREVIOUSLY HAD 25-HOUR WAIT ON NON-STRIKE DAY AS FAMILY SAYS 77-YEAR-OLD ‘LET DOWN BY WHOLE SYSTEM’
A FRAIL grandfather died in hospital after waiting 32 hours for an ambulance during a strike.
The Anglesey man had also experienced a 25-hour delay previously on a non NHS strike day, an inquest heard last week.
North West Wales senior coroner Kate Robertson at Caernarfon said 77-year-old William Guy had pneumonia and a broken thigh bone. She recorded a narrative conclusion.
The coroner said the time it took for the ambulance to reach him at a care home at Amlwch, Anglesey - where he was having respite care - meant Mr Guy, of Llangefni, didn’t receive timely treatment “which may have optimised prospects of a full recovery”.
After the inquest his daughter Donna Guy, 46, said: “We feel he has been let down by the whole system.
“If the ambulance had turned up on time, I think we wouldn’t be in this situation. I don’t know if he would have survived a hip operation he wasn’t given the chance. He was only 77, he had years. Something has got to change.
“It took 25 hours with no strike. Hopefully something will be learned from this. Something has to be done.”
Her twin Sheila added: “There’s too much of the same story.”
Mr Guy, a retired car valeter who once worked on the Snowdon mountain railway, died at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, on February 22, last year.
At the time the public had been warned that industrial action by ambulance service staff in Wales starting on February 20 would be “extremely challenging and have a significant impact on the Trust’s ability to respond to 999 calls.”
Care home manager Zoe Hughes said Mr Guy was very polite and grateful for what was being done for him. But on February 20 there was a loud bang and he was found on a bathroom floor.
“He said he had lost his balance getting off the toilet. There appeared to be no injuries. Mr Guy wasn’t complaining of any pain,” she recalled in a statement.
But soon afterwards the pensioner started to complain of pain in his hip and chest.
However, despite a 999 call, the ambulance service said help would take up to eight hours.
Mr Guy was assisted on to a bed, using a hoist, and six hours later a second 999 call had been made.
The following morning another 999 call was made, the manager explaining Mr Guy’s pain.
A call handler had apologised and put him down as a “priority” but still couldn’t say when help would arrive, the inquest was told. A local GP was contacted.
Gill Pleming, a manager with the Welsh ambulance service, said an emergency ambulance became available at 9.33pm. The response to allocation was a minute short of 32 hours.
Paramedic Meirion Owen, based at Colwyn Bay, said: “He was complaining of severe pain down his left leg.” His pain score had been “ten out of ten.” Miss Pleming said the 999 calls had been coded “correctly” although Mr Guy had been downgraded from Amber 2 serious but not immediately life-threatening to Green 2. The service would still have treated him as an Amber 2 patient.
Sonia Thompson, assistant director of operations for the emergency service, said the ambulance Trust (WAST) had negotiations with the unions Unite and the GMB.
But, legally, there was no requirement for the unions to relax their strike action.
“It was a conversation that happened regularly in relation to harm that could come to patients if the derogations were not sufficient,” she said. “That discussion of harm was particularly
A MAN has been fined for being in possession of an offensive weapon - a saucepan.
Martin Davies, 23, went out onto his street to protect himself and his family from an aggressive woman.
Caernarfon Magistrates Court heard he had grabbed the first thing he could.
He raised it as if to hit the woman but it flew out of his hand and the pair scuffled.
On Thursday Davies pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined £200.
Prosecutor Helen Hall told the court on the evening of August 5 last year Davies had been at his grandmother’s house on Cleveland Crescent, Holyhead.
A woman called Marie Mcdonald sent a message to say she was coming over for a fight. No exact reason was given in court.
CCTV doorbell footage showed Ms Mcdonald arriving and “taking off her jacket in an aggressive manner”. relevant due to the trade unions not derogating anything other than immediately life-threatening calls and some categories of calls deemed as critical.”
The coroner said pain and immobility could have a detrimental effect on an elderly person.
The WAST boss said the service “did plan as much as practicably possible to minimise the risk to patients.”
Richard Munn, of Unite, told the inquest: “Our concern throughout was if we had derogated more widely and included Amber One (life-threatening calls) as the Trust had asked us,
She walked towards a group of people and was shouting.
The defendant Davies came out of the house and walked towards Ms Mcdonald “as if to strike her with the saucepan” before it “flew out of his hand” and landed on the ground.
There was then a scuffle between Ms Mcdonald and the defendant.
Ms Hall said: “The prosecution accept that Marie Mcdonald was the initial aggressor. She had gone to the vicinity with a purpose, in order to fight.”
But Ms Hall said the defendant should have stayed in the house and contacted police.
She added: “He didn’t do that. He equipped himself with the saucepan.”
Liz Jones, defending Davies, said it was an isolated incident.
She said Ms Mcdonald was the initial aggressor, adding: “It’s unfortunate he took matters into his own hands.
“He grabbed the closest thing to we would have found far more of our members wouldn’t have listened to us. We can’t force people to take derogations.”
He said: “We will consider everything in the round if we get to the stage in the future where there’s industrial action.”
Mr Munn added: “One of the big frustrations our members face is a service in crisis. The trade dispute was about pay.
“However, the background wasn’t just pay, it was about an NHS that people were finding increasingly stretched to breaking point.”
He noted Mr Guy’s 25-hour wait on a non-strike day.
The coroner said: “I am very aware of the fact ambulance delays, irrespective of any industrial action, remain an ongoing issue.
“That doesn’t just fall at the feet of the ambulance service.”
She added: “I am conscious of the right to strike.”
She deferred any potential prevention of future deaths report for further information from Unite and the ambulance service.
The coroner wanted further evidence from Unite about how harm may be limited in the context of what happened to Mr Guy, who had a history of falls.
Consultant physician Dr Alan Bates, from Ysbyty Gwynedd said while waiting a long time for an ambulance “the lack of movement would increase the risk of chest infection”.
hand. Marie Mcdonald was screaming abuse.
He was trying to protect himself and his family with the saucepan.”
Davies appeared at Caernarfon Magistrates Court for Thursday’s hearing on a video link from home.
He could be heard saying he was having a panic attack.
His solicitor told the bench that her client has a history of self-harming and suicidal thoughts. He has been dealing with a diagnosis of depression, autism and anxiety, she added.
The court heard Davies, of Cleveland Crescent, Holyhead, has acute mental health problems to such an extent that the probation service have said a sentence involving them would be “unworkable” in this case.
Bench chairman Julie Eddowes fined Davies £200 for possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
He was also ordered to pay £85 towards costs and an £80 statutory surcharge.