HUGE RISE IN PATIENTS DYING »»

3,817 already dead when they come to hospital 50% rise on the figures for previous year Plus 3,072 wait over hour to be checked in

THE number of 999 patients who die before they reach hospital has risen by more than half in just 12 months.

Now paramedic chiefs have launched a probe into the soaring numbers, amid claims by ambulance staff that the growing strain on overcrowded A&Es could be to blame.

One paramedic told us he fears the increase is due to 999 calls “stacking up” as ambulance crews wait up to eight hours to hand over patients at hospital.

Figures from NHS Digital uncovered by the Sunday Mirror show 3,817 patients were declared DoA, or “Dead on Arrival”, last year.

That is 1,319 more than the previous year.

But the College of Paramedics, which has launched a probe, believes the rise is down to more dignified handling of patients who are already beyond saving.

They say better trained staff are increasingly encouraged not to carry out “futile resuscitations”, which can distress families by giving false hope.

ROAD

NHS England data shows that in one week, up to last Sunday, 3,072 patients arriving by ambulance waited more than an hour to be checked in at A& E – preventing paramedics getting straight back on the road.

And three times that number – 10,438 patients – were seen more quickly but still had to wait for at least 30 minutes.

The numbers are significantly higher than during the same week last year, when 2,229 patients waited more than an hour and 8,522 between 30 minutes and an hour.

Paramedic Paul Turner, a GMB union rep, said: “If you have crews standing around in corridors waiting with patients on trolleys, there is nobody to respond to the next 999 call.

“I’ve heard of crews waiting up to eight hours. The other day nine ambulances were sitting outside Blackpool hospital – that was probably all the ambulances available in the area.

“When you finally get clear and get back to your ambulance you see the jobs all stacked up.

“We aren’t able to meet all the Category 1 calls – anything with an immediate threat to life – within the target time.”

But Martin Berry, of the College of Paramedics, pointed to the changes over resuscitation as a possible cause.

He said: “If there’s the slightest chance a patient’s life can be continued, we will fight for it.

“But we are empowering our paramedics to make that decision that resuscitation is futile.

“Starting futile resuscitation and putting the family through unnecessary hope only adds to their suffering. What we are trying to do is take that decision