A grandfather who waited nearly 10 hours for an ambulance died as paramedics walked through the door after his family dialled 999 six times
A grandfather who waited nearly 10 hours for an ambulance died as paramedics walked through the door after his family dialled 999 six times.
Steven Iles, 63, from near Bristol, died from a strangulated hernia in his bowel which cut off the blood supply to his heart after two of the six calls for an ambulance went unanswered for 10 minutes, a File on 4 investigation found.
Mr Iles’ devastated family told The Ambulance Crisis: 24 Hours on the Front Line, which aired last night, that he died as two paramedics finally walked through the door.
His wife Jean previously told after his death in March: ‘I will never forget it, I see it all the time when I try to sleep it just goes round and round.’
‘I never said goodbye and I never told him I loved him.It didn’t happen, I didn’t have chance.’
She added: ‘If they would have come out when I rang, the outcome might have been a lot different.’
BBC Radio 4’s investigation found ambulances have spent more than a million hours waiting outside A&E departments in England kolaybet this year because of delays in handing over patients and more than 300,000 patients have experienced potential harm as a result of handover delays, which happened between January and September.
Steven Iles, 63, from near Bristol, died from a strangulated hernia in his bowel which cut off the blood supply to his heart
Mr Iles’ devastated family said he died as two paramedics finally walked through the door – he was a much loved husband, father and grandfather
Steven’s wife Jean said she never got a chance to say goodbye – pictured (left) with her daughter Claire (right)
Jean says she didn’t get a chance to tell her husband she loved him before he passed away – Steven and Jean pictured on their wedding day
The last phone call made by 94-year-old Ken Shadbolt, from Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, was played on the show, during which he appeared to lose hope and finally asked for an undertaker.
‘I’m getting worse by the minute,’ he said.’I’m laying on the bathroom floor because I have had a bad fall.
‘I feel terrible sick. I’m in terrible pain.
‘If it’s going on another half hour I’ll probably be dead…oh my headache.
‘Send me the undertaker, that would be the best bet.’
It took more than four more hours for an ambulance to reach his home, by which time he had lost consciousness.He was rushed to hospital but died that day.
The show analysed the latest National Ambulance data published by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives for the period covering January to September 2022.
The analysis found the longest wait in September was 26 hours and that every single day last month nearly 400 patients and crews waited for longer than three hours outside a hospital in England.
Dr Adrian Boyle, President of The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has called the situation ‘dire’ and has said the system is failing patients.
He added: ‘This data signals the depth of the crisis facing urgent and emergency care.Our emergency departments are full. There are no beds into which we can move patients from the Emergency Department.
‘While Emergency Departments are overcrowded, ambulance crews are unable to handover patients. As a result, more patients face dangerously long waits that we know are associated with harm and even death.It is a dire situation; the system is failing patients.’
Ken Shadbolt, 94, from Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, called an ambulance and asked for an undertaker in his tragic final call
Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) Managing Director Martin Flaherty OBE QAM said: ‘These unprecedented delays at hospital emergency departments are a twin threat; they cause significant harm to patients who are forced to wait in the back of our ambulances, while those resources are tied up and therefore unable to respond to patients who need us out in the community.
‘The ultimate safety net for the NHS is the fact that patients who are severely ill or injured can access an emergency ambulance in a timeframe appropriate to their clinical condition.
‘It is no exaggeration to admit that this safety net is now severely compromised and patients are dying and coming to harm as a result on a daily basis.
South Western Ambulance service says it’s sorry for delays patients and their families experience.It says these are caused by huge pressure on the service – and that staff always strive to give their best to anybody they treat.
The trust is also recruiting extra call handlers to help with demand. It says its performance has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, partly due to handover delays at emergency departments.
The programme went out on shift with the West Midlands Ambulance Service and kolaybet heard about the steps which are being taken to try to reduce delays in handing over patients at hospital.This includes a new cohort scheme where patients are dropped off to an area in A&E staffed by paramedics, allowing ambulances to get back on the road.
Karina who has been a paramedic for eight years told File on 4 she feels frustrated but is optimistic about the scheme: ‘Sometimes we’re sat there for 10, 12 hours and you can hear call outs for category ones [the most urgent calls] and they’re round the corner from where you are.And there’s nothing you can do about it because you’ve got to stay with this patient.
Mr Shadbolt was rushed to hospital when an ambulance finally did arrive but he died later that day
Ambulances have spent more than a million hours waiting outside A&E departments in England this year, a File on 4 investigation has found (stock image)
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox health floatRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-31a77130-4f92-11ed-81ce-95b6000fbeb1" website who waited nearly 10 hours for ambulance died just as it arrived
