The North East Ambulance Service has reported itself to the Care Quality Commission after discovering its paramedics had given patients 75 doses of out-of-date drugs, including morphine.
Bosses at the NEAS said the problem was discovered during a routine audit of drugs earlier this year.
Ambulance officials said no patients had been put at risk due to the drugs being out-of-date but acknowledged that their potency to provide pain relief may have been impaired.
By the time ambulance bosses had realised they had a problem – and taken action to stop it happening again - a total of 75 doses had been administered by 26 paramedics.
he medicines dispensed by paramedics which were found to be out-of-date included two forms of morphine and a form of diazepam known as Diazamul.
Morphine is used to relieve severe pain that can be caused by heart attack, injury, surgery or chronic disease such as cancer.
Diazepam is used as an anti-anxiety drug, a muscle relaxant and as an anti-convulsant.
In a statement to The Northern Echo the NEAS said: “During a routine audit by NEAS, a number of out-of-date controlled drugs were found to have been administered to patients. In total 75 doses had been administered by 26 paramedics.
“The specific medicines were Morphine, Oramorph oral suspension and Diazamuls. No patients were put at risk due to the drugs being out of date, though their potency to provide pain relief may have been less effective.
“The Care Quality Commission and Monitor – a health watchdog – are aware of the situation, along with our commissioners.
“Since the error came to light we have tightened-up our controlled medicines checking procedures.”
A spokeswoman for the Care Quality Commission said: “We can confirm we were alerted by the NEAS in April.
"We asked them for an action plan and after reviewing that plan we were reassured that the actions taken by the trust to mitigate the risk were robust.”
But the CQC said their inspectors would be returning to the NEAS to make a follow-up inspection of how the trust was keeping drugs secure, including controlled drugs.
This followed an earlier visit by CQC inspectors to the trust in February which found the NEAS non-compliant in the storage of medicines.
This article is courtesy of the Northern Echo.
Regularly updated blog featuring news, articles and information relating to clinical/medical negligence.
Showing posts with label Ambulance Error. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ambulance Error. Show all posts
Monday, 25 August 2014
Monday, 9 June 2014
West Midlands Ambulance Service fined £2.6 million over missed targets
The NHS in North Staffordshire has pocketed nearly £100,000 of a fine imposed for ambulance delays in other parts of the West Midlands.
The cash is part of £2.6million penalty on the region’s ambulance trust for failing to get to life-threatening calls quickly enough.
Over the whole of the West Midlands it missed a Government directive to reach 75 percent of 999s within eight minutes over the past year.
And even though it hit the target in North Staffordshire, £94,000 still comes to the area.
That is in recognition that ambulances could have been taken out of the county to cope with the hold-ups which built up in Birmingham districts.
Some will be paid back to improve ambulance response times with the rest available to spend on patient care by North Staffordshire’s two clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which control NHS budgets.
Union leaders branded it “a farce” that money was being taken from a service already struggling to meet demand.
Latest figures show that despite the failings elsewhere, ambulances reached 76.5 percent of North Staffordshire emergencies within eight minutes last month to bring the average for the year to 81.1 percent.
CCGs’ finance director Tony Matthews said: “The delays are linked to the longer periods it was taking for ambulances to drop patients off at Birmingham hospitals and get back on the road again.
“In fact, at our own University Hospital of North Staffordshire, these turnaround times are among the shortest in the country.”
The service will lose £800,000 of the total fine because the remaining £1.8million will be reinvested to improve ambulance response times.
Leaders at West Midlands Ambulance Service(WMAS) say it has experienced unprecedented and unpredictable demand.
A spokesman said: “We were fined for failing to reach the Red 2 performance standard by just over one percent. To put this into perspective, we missed the target by, on average, only 12 seconds.
“There was no impact on patients from the levying of the fine as the trust board agreed to fund the £800,000 from reserves so that patient care was protected.
“We are currently exceeding all performance standards for 2014-15.”
The fine was technically imposed by Sandwell CCG which leads ambulance commissioning on behalf of all 17 groups in the West Midlands.
Ray Salmon, regional organiser for Unison ambulance union, said: “This is a farce. You cannot have 17 decisions made locally about an ambulance service which operates across the whole region.”
Ian Syme, co-ordinator of NHS campaigning group North Staffordshire Healthwatch, said: “Even though the problems appear to have been in Birmingham, ambulances may have been sent from Staffordshire to cover and that could have had a knock-on effect for UHNS.”
This article is courtesy from Stoke Sentinel.
The cash is part of £2.6million penalty on the region’s ambulance trust for failing to get to life-threatening calls quickly enough.
Over the whole of the West Midlands it missed a Government directive to reach 75 percent of 999s within eight minutes over the past year.
And even though it hit the target in North Staffordshire, £94,000 still comes to the area.
That is in recognition that ambulances could have been taken out of the county to cope with the hold-ups which built up in Birmingham districts.
Some will be paid back to improve ambulance response times with the rest available to spend on patient care by North Staffordshire’s two clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) which control NHS budgets.
Union leaders branded it “a farce” that money was being taken from a service already struggling to meet demand.
Latest figures show that despite the failings elsewhere, ambulances reached 76.5 percent of North Staffordshire emergencies within eight minutes last month to bring the average for the year to 81.1 percent.
CCGs’ finance director Tony Matthews said: “The delays are linked to the longer periods it was taking for ambulances to drop patients off at Birmingham hospitals and get back on the road again.
“In fact, at our own University Hospital of North Staffordshire, these turnaround times are among the shortest in the country.”
The service will lose £800,000 of the total fine because the remaining £1.8million will be reinvested to improve ambulance response times.
Leaders at West Midlands Ambulance Service(WMAS) say it has experienced unprecedented and unpredictable demand.
A spokesman said: “We were fined for failing to reach the Red 2 performance standard by just over one percent. To put this into perspective, we missed the target by, on average, only 12 seconds.
“There was no impact on patients from the levying of the fine as the trust board agreed to fund the £800,000 from reserves so that patient care was protected.
“We are currently exceeding all performance standards for 2014-15.”
The fine was technically imposed by Sandwell CCG which leads ambulance commissioning on behalf of all 17 groups in the West Midlands.
Ray Salmon, regional organiser for Unison ambulance union, said: “This is a farce. You cannot have 17 decisions made locally about an ambulance service which operates across the whole region.”
Ian Syme, co-ordinator of NHS campaigning group North Staffordshire Healthwatch, said: “Even though the problems appear to have been in Birmingham, ambulances may have been sent from Staffordshire to cover and that could have had a knock-on effect for UHNS.”
This article is courtesy from Stoke Sentinel.
Friday, 9 May 2014
Pensioner’s FOUR HOUR wait for ambulance while feeling ill after major heart surgery
A pensioner recovering from major heart surgery was forced to wait almost four hours for an ambulance.
Stan Kelly’s doctor rang for an ambulance after he woke up feeling “horrendous” and had trouble breathing just weeks after undergoing major surgery on his heart.
His doctor expected an ambulance to be with him in around an hour – but one did not arrive until three hours and 45 minutes later.
It is the latest in a series of incidents of patients in Hartlepool and East Durham enduring lengthy waits because of a shortage of ambulance resources.
It comes after the Mail reported last week how much-loved Hartlepool man William Gouldburn, 73, died after being left on his bathroom floor for two hours.
The grandad-of-two said: “I just felt absolutely horrendous when I woke up.Mr Kelly, a retired bus and coach driver, who also has a chronic lung condition and asthma, blasted the wait and called for more ambulances to be provided.
“I very rarely wake up with breathing difficulties. With the doctor sending for the ambulance it could have been anything, we just didn’t know.
“It is just the thought of the ambulance being that long. We were told an hour to an hour and a quarter at the most, but it was three hours and 45 minutes.
The North East Ambulance Service says it was dealing with more life-threatening cases last Wednesday when Mr Kelly was ill.“My wife’s sister, or daughter or the next-door neighbour could have taken me if we had known. We wouldn’t have waited that long.”
Mr Kelly, who is married to Ann, 63, has three grown-up daughters, was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, where he was kept in overnight.
A scan later revealed he had a chest infection and fluid on the lung and was given medication.
Mr Kelly, of Clifton avenue, Hartlepool, added: “I can’t blame the ambulance crews, they are up to their necks with it.
“There should be more ambulances. Do you write to the health minister, the Prime Minister, the Queen? How high far do you need to go?”
A North East Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called by the gentleman’s GP at 1.47pm, who requested transport for a patient with a chest infection. It was not an emergency 999 call, and there was no target time response.
“As an emergency service, our top priority is always incidents where people may die if we do not get there within eight minutes. And for this type of response we are consistently the quickest in England and Wales.
“Once we had attended the more pressing Red calls where life was in immediate danger, we were able to attend the patient at 5.30pm.
“We kept in touch with the patient throughout the day, during which time his condition did not change.
“We are pleased to hear he is making a good recovery from his chest infection.”
The public services union Unison described Mr Kelly’s case as just the latest in a long line of incidents.
David Atkinson, who represents the union’s ambulance service members, said: “It is certainly to do with a lack of resources. The trust are now saying this.
“They have a £1.7m shortfall in their budget this year.”
David said the cuts are putting “huge pressure” on frontline staff.
He added: “These long waiting times are making patients frustrated and could be one of the reasons why assaults on staff are up.”
Stan Kelly’s doctor rang for an ambulance after he woke up feeling “horrendous” and had trouble breathing just weeks after undergoing major surgery on his heart.
His doctor expected an ambulance to be with him in around an hour – but one did not arrive until three hours and 45 minutes later.
It is the latest in a series of incidents of patients in Hartlepool and East Durham enduring lengthy waits because of a shortage of ambulance resources.
It comes after the Mail reported last week how much-loved Hartlepool man William Gouldburn, 73, died after being left on his bathroom floor for two hours.
The grandad-of-two said: “I just felt absolutely horrendous when I woke up.Mr Kelly, a retired bus and coach driver, who also has a chronic lung condition and asthma, blasted the wait and called for more ambulances to be provided.
“I very rarely wake up with breathing difficulties. With the doctor sending for the ambulance it could have been anything, we just didn’t know.
“It is just the thought of the ambulance being that long. We were told an hour to an hour and a quarter at the most, but it was three hours and 45 minutes.
The North East Ambulance Service says it was dealing with more life-threatening cases last Wednesday when Mr Kelly was ill.“My wife’s sister, or daughter or the next-door neighbour could have taken me if we had known. We wouldn’t have waited that long.”
Mr Kelly, who is married to Ann, 63, has three grown-up daughters, was taken to the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, where he was kept in overnight.
A scan later revealed he had a chest infection and fluid on the lung and was given medication.
Mr Kelly, of Clifton avenue, Hartlepool, added: “I can’t blame the ambulance crews, they are up to their necks with it.
“There should be more ambulances. Do you write to the health minister, the Prime Minister, the Queen? How high far do you need to go?”
A North East Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called by the gentleman’s GP at 1.47pm, who requested transport for a patient with a chest infection. It was not an emergency 999 call, and there was no target time response.
“As an emergency service, our top priority is always incidents where people may die if we do not get there within eight minutes. And for this type of response we are consistently the quickest in England and Wales.
“Once we had attended the more pressing Red calls where life was in immediate danger, we were able to attend the patient at 5.30pm.
“We kept in touch with the patient throughout the day, during which time his condition did not change.
“We are pleased to hear he is making a good recovery from his chest infection.”
The public services union Unison described Mr Kelly’s case as just the latest in a long line of incidents.
David Atkinson, who represents the union’s ambulance service members, said: “It is certainly to do with a lack of resources. The trust are now saying this.
“They have a £1.7m shortfall in their budget this year.”
David said the cuts are putting “huge pressure” on frontline staff.
He added: “These long waiting times are making patients frustrated and could be one of the reasons why assaults on staff are up.”
This article is courtesy from Hartlepool Mail.
Monday, 21 April 2014
Pregnant woman died after 'delay by trainee medics’
A pregnant woman bled to death after trainee paramedics waited 40 minutes to take her to hospital, an inquest has heard.
Trudy Glenister, 38, told family she feared she was “losing the baby” after suffering vomiting and abdominal pains in April 2011.
An inquest at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court heard how trainee paramedics waited 40 minutes before leaving for Southend Hospital and refused to use emergency sirens.
Mrs Glenister, who was five weeks pregnant, went into cardiac arrest after suffering internal bleeding due to a suspected ectopic pregnancy. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Mark Elms, an ambulance trainee, told the court he and a student colleague had arrived at the home in Great Wakering, Essex, at 7.29pm on April 11, 2011, and began making observations at 7.35pm.
Observations continued until 8.09pm, before they set off without emergency lights or sirens, as Mr Elms claimed that he feared using them might “increase the patient’s anxiety”. The court heard that, following the 15-minute journey, the crew queued up behind other ambulances, unaware of the emergency at hand. Mr Elms admitted that he had been training for only a year and his knowledge of ectopic pregnancies was restricted to two brief paragraphs in training manuals.
He claimed he had followed his training by carrying out two sets of observations before taking the patient to hospital.
A post mortem examination revealed Mrs Glenister had four to five litres of blood in her abdominal area in what pathologist Dr Ian Caulder described as an “acute medical surgical emergency”.
The foetus in her Fallopian tube had ruptured her ovarian artery, causing heavy internal bleeding.
Roger Wicks, a solicitor, who represented Mrs Glenister’s family, called on the coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, to record medical negligence as a factor in her death. He said the trainee’s actions amounted to “gross failings in the provision of basic care”. The inquest was adjourned ahead of summing up next week.
Dave Hill, representing the ambulance trust, said the incident had not been investigated and no procedures had been changed since Mrs Glenister’s death.
The hearing was adjourned until next week.
This article is courtesy from The Telegraph.
Trudy Glenister, 38, told family she feared she was “losing the baby” after suffering vomiting and abdominal pains in April 2011.
An inquest at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court heard how trainee paramedics waited 40 minutes before leaving for Southend Hospital and refused to use emergency sirens.
Mrs Glenister, who was five weeks pregnant, went into cardiac arrest after suffering internal bleeding due to a suspected ectopic pregnancy. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Mark Elms, an ambulance trainee, told the court he and a student colleague had arrived at the home in Great Wakering, Essex, at 7.29pm on April 11, 2011, and began making observations at 7.35pm.
Observations continued until 8.09pm, before they set off without emergency lights or sirens, as Mr Elms claimed that he feared using them might “increase the patient’s anxiety”. The court heard that, following the 15-minute journey, the crew queued up behind other ambulances, unaware of the emergency at hand. Mr Elms admitted that he had been training for only a year and his knowledge of ectopic pregnancies was restricted to two brief paragraphs in training manuals.
He claimed he had followed his training by carrying out two sets of observations before taking the patient to hospital.
A post mortem examination revealed Mrs Glenister had four to five litres of blood in her abdominal area in what pathologist Dr Ian Caulder described as an “acute medical surgical emergency”.
The foetus in her Fallopian tube had ruptured her ovarian artery, causing heavy internal bleeding.
Roger Wicks, a solicitor, who represented Mrs Glenister’s family, called on the coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, to record medical negligence as a factor in her death. He said the trainee’s actions amounted to “gross failings in the provision of basic care”. The inquest was adjourned ahead of summing up next week.
Dave Hill, representing the ambulance trust, said the incident had not been investigated and no procedures had been changed since Mrs Glenister’s death.
The hearing was adjourned until next week.
This article is courtesy from The Telegraph.
Friday, 21 March 2014
Paramedic's failings led to girl's death
An inquest has heard that mother spent years blaming herself for the death of her seven-year-old daughter before discovering that the paramedic who treated her had been secretly sacked for medical negligence.
Lorna Eason had always believed she could have done more after her daughter, Bella, died at their home at Thorne, near Doncaster, from an asthma attack brought on by a cardiac arrest.
Six years after her death, a coroner ruled there was "a gross failure" to provide Bella with basic medical treatment." David Hirst reports.
This article is courtesy from ITV.
Lorna Eason had always believed she could have done more after her daughter, Bella, died at their home at Thorne, near Doncaster, from an asthma attack brought on by a cardiac arrest.
Six years after her death, a coroner ruled there was "a gross failure" to provide Bella with basic medical treatment." David Hirst reports.
This article is courtesy from ITV.
Friday, 18 October 2013
Paramedic ‘went to PC World’ on way to call-out
A paramedic has admitted telling colleagues she stopped her ambulance at a retail park to pick up equipment for her computer on her way to an urgent call to help a depressed and suicidal woman.
Victoria Arnott said she was ill and needed to pick up medication, but told colleagues she had stopped her ambulance to pick up PC equipment because she was too embarrassed to tell them about her health issues.
The former Scottish Ambulance Service worker was on duty in Fife on 4 July last year when she was allocated a doctor’s urgent call to attend the woman’s home in Lochgelly and take her to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
Ms Arnott told the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) conduct and competence committee that she felt “pretty poorly” from the start of her 12-hour shift.
She said that while en route from Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy she decided to stop at a retail park chemist for medication.
“I was feeling symptomatic to a point where I was somewhat frustrated and distracted,” she told the three-member committee panel yesterday.
She did not ask for permission to stop because she was embarrassed and “not thinking straight”, she said.
Earlier, the panel heard the paramedic told colleagues investigating the seven-minute delay that she had stopped at PC World to pick up something for her computer.
Ms Arnott, who joined the ambulance service in 1999, said she was concerned about telling people about her health issues as “it is not the most discreet of services”.
The paramedic said she later felt “mortified and humiliated” about what she described as a “grave error”.
The panel heard that the call was at the second lowest level of priority with a response window of one to four hours. It had been received by the control room at 11:41am and was not allocated to Ms Arnott’s crew until 3:35pm.
Alice Stobart, counsel for Ms Arnott, said that given such a window, her client might be expected to know that there was unlikely to be clinical or medical input necessary.
At yesterday’s hearing, Ms Arnott admitted stopping on the way to the woman’s home to do personal shopping without seeking authorisation from the ambulance control centre, but denied misusing an ambulance for personal purposes.
She said she thought that a stop on medical grounds would have been allowed if she had sought permission.
The panel was told that the matter had been raised with the HCPC through an anonymous letter.
Rowena Rix, representing the body, said: “It is the HCPC’s submission that her actions did fall short of the standards expected of her.
“She did on this occasion put her own interest above that of the patient, which caused a delay in the treatment of the patient.
“While there is no suggestion of any harm caused, there was definitely potential for harm in this case.”
Ms Stobart said her client’s decision to stop was a “one-off isolated error”.
The case continues.
This article is courtesy from The Scotsman.
Victoria Arnott said she was ill and needed to pick up medication, but told colleagues she had stopped her ambulance to pick up PC equipment because she was too embarrassed to tell them about her health issues.
The former Scottish Ambulance Service worker was on duty in Fife on 4 July last year when she was allocated a doctor’s urgent call to attend the woman’s home in Lochgelly and take her to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline.
Ms Arnott told the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) conduct and competence committee that she felt “pretty poorly” from the start of her 12-hour shift.
She said that while en route from Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy she decided to stop at a retail park chemist for medication.
“I was feeling symptomatic to a point where I was somewhat frustrated and distracted,” she told the three-member committee panel yesterday.
She did not ask for permission to stop because she was embarrassed and “not thinking straight”, she said.
Earlier, the panel heard the paramedic told colleagues investigating the seven-minute delay that she had stopped at PC World to pick up something for her computer.
Ms Arnott, who joined the ambulance service in 1999, said she was concerned about telling people about her health issues as “it is not the most discreet of services”.
The paramedic said she later felt “mortified and humiliated” about what she described as a “grave error”.
The panel heard that the call was at the second lowest level of priority with a response window of one to four hours. It had been received by the control room at 11:41am and was not allocated to Ms Arnott’s crew until 3:35pm.
Alice Stobart, counsel for Ms Arnott, said that given such a window, her client might be expected to know that there was unlikely to be clinical or medical input necessary.
At yesterday’s hearing, Ms Arnott admitted stopping on the way to the woman’s home to do personal shopping without seeking authorisation from the ambulance control centre, but denied misusing an ambulance for personal purposes.
She said she thought that a stop on medical grounds would have been allowed if she had sought permission.
The panel was told that the matter had been raised with the HCPC through an anonymous letter.
Rowena Rix, representing the body, said: “It is the HCPC’s submission that her actions did fall short of the standards expected of her.
“She did on this occasion put her own interest above that of the patient, which caused a delay in the treatment of the patient.
“While there is no suggestion of any harm caused, there was definitely potential for harm in this case.”
Ms Stobart said her client’s decision to stop was a “one-off isolated error”.
The case continues.
This article is courtesy from The Scotsman.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Boy, two, died of meningitis after 999 operator 'lost' parent's desperate call in system leading to delay in sending ambulance
A two-year-old boy died from meningitis after his parent's desperate 999 call got 'lost in the system' and referred to NHS Direct meaning a paramedic was not sent out until it was too late to save him.
Dusan Spivak was rushed to the Royal Derby Hospital a full hour-and-a-half after his parents called the emergency services - but by then medics said it was too late to save his life.
An inquest heard how Dusan's family, originally from the Czech Republic, had dialled 999 at 10.26pm on May 29 last year after a large rash formed quickly on the youngster's belly at their home in Normanton, Derbyshire.
Michelle Summonds, acting service delivery manager for East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), said that because none of the family members spoke English, it was 'difficult' for the call handler to determine how serious the incident was.
She admitted the call handler failed to source an interpreter, which meant he did not grasp how serious the situation was.
As a result, he wrongly chose to involve NHS Direct, when it was the EMAS Clinical Assessment Team - which deal with more urgent 999 calls - which needed to be sent details. He also failed to complete the referral form to NHS Direct.
The inquest at Derby Coroner's Court heard a second 999 call, which was properly handled, was made at 10.50pm and led to a paramedic arriving at the scene at 11.29pm.
Assistant deputy coroner Paul McCandles, ruled that had the first 999 call been handled correctly, a paramedic would have arrived approximately 13 minutes earlier.
Dr William Carroll, who led frantic efforts to save the youngster told the inquest the boy had developed meningococcal septicaemia - a life-threatening infection brought on by meningitis.
He said it was a condition that can bring about death very quickly and that 'every minute counts'.
Asked if Dusan would have lived had he arrived at hospital sooner, Dr Carroll replied: 'Probably, yes'.
Mr McCandles, said it was 'not possible to say' whether Dusan would have survived had the earlier call not been 'lost in the system' and the response been 13 minutes quicker.
It also emerged that a paramedic chose to go against national guidelines when it came to treating Dusan at the house.
Paul Whitfield - the first paramedic to arrive - said the boy was so ill it was clear he needed a dose of the antibiotic benzylpenicillin.
Guidelines stated the drug should not be administered if the medic is unsure about whether the patient has any allergies. Mr Whitfield said this was impossible to determine as nobody in the house spoke English.
Based on the fact the child’s condition was rapidly deteriorating, he instructed a colleague to administer the benzylpenicillin.
Mr McCandless said the paramedic was 'between the devil and the deep, blue sea' and that he should be praised for 'bravely' making the call that he did.
The inquest was also told about a 'missed opportunity' earlier in the day to uncover the serious nature of Dusan’s illness.
Dusan’s grandfather, also called Dusan Spivak, phoned Lister House Surgery Normanton, on the day the toddler fell ill.
Mr Spivak explained, via a telephone interpreting service, that Dusan had a fever, pain in his stomach and was struggling to breathe.
The receptionist, Claire Nicholas, advised him to fetch some medicine from a pharmacy to 'bring his temperature down'. Giving evidence, she admitted she should have 'concentrated more on the abdominal pain'.
However, Mr McCandless did not criticise her actions, pointing out that there had been no clear signs to suggest the Dusan was seriously ill and that she advised Mr Spivak to call back if his condition deteriorated.
In delivering his verdict, Mr McCandless said Dusan had fallen victim to a condition that was every parent’s and medic’s 'worst nightmare'.
Afterwards, a spokesperson for EMAS said it was 'sorry for the error in the categorisation of the call', and that action had been taken to prevent the incident happening again.
This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.
Dusan Spivak was rushed to the Royal Derby Hospital a full hour-and-a-half after his parents called the emergency services - but by then medics said it was too late to save his life.
An inquest heard how Dusan's family, originally from the Czech Republic, had dialled 999 at 10.26pm on May 29 last year after a large rash formed quickly on the youngster's belly at their home in Normanton, Derbyshire.
Michelle Summonds, acting service delivery manager for East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), said that because none of the family members spoke English, it was 'difficult' for the call handler to determine how serious the incident was.
She admitted the call handler failed to source an interpreter, which meant he did not grasp how serious the situation was.
As a result, he wrongly chose to involve NHS Direct, when it was the EMAS Clinical Assessment Team - which deal with more urgent 999 calls - which needed to be sent details. He also failed to complete the referral form to NHS Direct.
The inquest at Derby Coroner's Court heard a second 999 call, which was properly handled, was made at 10.50pm and led to a paramedic arriving at the scene at 11.29pm.
Assistant deputy coroner Paul McCandles, ruled that had the first 999 call been handled correctly, a paramedic would have arrived approximately 13 minutes earlier.
Dr William Carroll, who led frantic efforts to save the youngster told the inquest the boy had developed meningococcal septicaemia - a life-threatening infection brought on by meningitis.
He said it was a condition that can bring about death very quickly and that 'every minute counts'.
Asked if Dusan would have lived had he arrived at hospital sooner, Dr Carroll replied: 'Probably, yes'.
Mr McCandles, said it was 'not possible to say' whether Dusan would have survived had the earlier call not been 'lost in the system' and the response been 13 minutes quicker.
It also emerged that a paramedic chose to go against national guidelines when it came to treating Dusan at the house.
Paul Whitfield - the first paramedic to arrive - said the boy was so ill it was clear he needed a dose of the antibiotic benzylpenicillin.
Guidelines stated the drug should not be administered if the medic is unsure about whether the patient has any allergies. Mr Whitfield said this was impossible to determine as nobody in the house spoke English.
Based on the fact the child’s condition was rapidly deteriorating, he instructed a colleague to administer the benzylpenicillin.
Mr McCandless said the paramedic was 'between the devil and the deep, blue sea' and that he should be praised for 'bravely' making the call that he did.
The inquest was also told about a 'missed opportunity' earlier in the day to uncover the serious nature of Dusan’s illness.
Dusan’s grandfather, also called Dusan Spivak, phoned Lister House Surgery Normanton, on the day the toddler fell ill.
Mr Spivak explained, via a telephone interpreting service, that Dusan had a fever, pain in his stomach and was struggling to breathe.
The receptionist, Claire Nicholas, advised him to fetch some medicine from a pharmacy to 'bring his temperature down'. Giving evidence, she admitted she should have 'concentrated more on the abdominal pain'.
However, Mr McCandless did not criticise her actions, pointing out that there had been no clear signs to suggest the Dusan was seriously ill and that she advised Mr Spivak to call back if his condition deteriorated.
In delivering his verdict, Mr McCandless said Dusan had fallen victim to a condition that was every parent’s and medic’s 'worst nightmare'.
Afterwards, a spokesperson for EMAS said it was 'sorry for the error in the categorisation of the call', and that action had been taken to prevent the incident happening again.
This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.
Friday, 12 July 2013
Yeovil District Hospital's ambulance delays tackled
Efforts have been made to tackle delays in ambulance handovers at A&E at Yeovil District Hospital.
Delays of more than 30 minutes peaked in February on more than 50 occasions causing queues outside the hospital.
During the past financial year, the hospital was fined £24,000 by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for delays.
The trust said "significant improvements" had been made to tackle the problem of delays.
Chief executive Paul Mears, said: "[This has been] to make sure all patients are moved off the ambulance trolleys into one of our bays as quickly as possible.
"We now have the lowest ambulance turnaround times in the south west - on average our patients are handed over from the ambulance crews to our nursing and medical teams within 10 minutes of arriving at hospital," added Mr Mears.
'Reduce handovers'
Changes to staffing and assessment of frail patients have been brought in.
The arrival area has been moved closer to the front door, with access improved for ambulance trolleys.
Chief executive of the ambulance trust, Ken Wenman, said: "We are working extremely hard with our partner organisations to address these problems and a number of measures are in place to reduce handovers.
"For example we have an ambulance officer working directly in the Emergency Department of a hospital to assist in the management of patients during the handover process to enable crews to return to the road more quickly."
This article is courtesy of BBC News.
Delays of more than 30 minutes peaked in February on more than 50 occasions causing queues outside the hospital.
During the past financial year, the hospital was fined £24,000 by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for delays.
The trust said "significant improvements" had been made to tackle the problem of delays.
Chief executive Paul Mears, said: "[This has been] to make sure all patients are moved off the ambulance trolleys into one of our bays as quickly as possible.
"We now have the lowest ambulance turnaround times in the south west - on average our patients are handed over from the ambulance crews to our nursing and medical teams within 10 minutes of arriving at hospital," added Mr Mears.
'Reduce handovers'
Changes to staffing and assessment of frail patients have been brought in.
The arrival area has been moved closer to the front door, with access improved for ambulance trolleys.
Chief executive of the ambulance trust, Ken Wenman, said: "We are working extremely hard with our partner organisations to address these problems and a number of measures are in place to reduce handovers.
"For example we have an ambulance officer working directly in the Emergency Department of a hospital to assist in the management of patients during the handover process to enable crews to return to the road more quickly."
This article is courtesy of BBC News.
Monday, 8 July 2013
Pensioner, 79, died after waiting two hours for an ambulance to arrive from 83 miles away
An ambulance was sent 83 miles to help a critically-ill pensioner - even though he lived barely a mile from a hospital.
Barry Edwards, 79, from Cambridge, had dialled 999 after suffering severe stomach pains. He had suffered an aortic aneurysm - a dangerous condition which occurs when a blood vessel in the stomach swells.
But the call was not treated as urgent and it took two more 999 calls and visits from a doctor and a paramedic before an ambulance finally arrived almost two and a half hours later, the Cambridge News reported.
It had been dispatched from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, a distance of almost 83 miles and at least an hour and a half drive, despite the fact that Mr Edwards lived only a few streets away from Addenbrooke's Hospital where he was eventually treated.
He died the following morning.
East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAT) said an investigation is underway to establish what happened.
The Trust has come in for major criticism recently after a damaging report about its performance.
The service, which covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, was criticised for almost two years over its poor response times, particularly in rural areas, before it was reviewed.
MP Anthony Marsh, who carried out the review, said managers had developed a 'sense of helplessness' which had led to the failings. All five non-executive directors of the Trust have since resigned in the wake of the scandal.
Mr Edwards' sister Madelaine described the agonising last few hours before the ambulance finally arrived on December 5 last year.
She told the Cambridge News: 'I knew my brother was going to die. The last few hours of his life were horrific. He deserved so much better than that.'
Mrs Edwards has called for 999 operators to be better trained so that emergency calls are properly assessed.
Her local MP Julian Huppert has written to the Trust asking for a full investigation into the case.
The Trust told him that a review had been carried out, but as Mrs Edwards was not happy with the conclusions, a fresh investigation is underway.
Mr Huppert described the treatment of Mr Edwards as 'appalling'. He said a full review is necessary so that lessons are learned.
A spokesman for the EEAT told Cambridge News: 'The MP Julian Huppert made an official complaint in December and the concerns were investigated and EEAST sent their findings to Julian Huppert.
'Following this, he wasn’t happy with the outcome so the investigation has been reopened by EEAST and this is an on-going process.
'Once the follow up investigation is resolved, Julian will receive the updates as a matter of priority.'
This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Barry Edwards, 79, from Cambridge, had dialled 999 after suffering severe stomach pains. He had suffered an aortic aneurysm - a dangerous condition which occurs when a blood vessel in the stomach swells.
But the call was not treated as urgent and it took two more 999 calls and visits from a doctor and a paramedic before an ambulance finally arrived almost two and a half hours later, the Cambridge News reported.
It had been dispatched from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, a distance of almost 83 miles and at least an hour and a half drive, despite the fact that Mr Edwards lived only a few streets away from Addenbrooke's Hospital where he was eventually treated.
He died the following morning.
East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAT) said an investigation is underway to establish what happened.
The Trust has come in for major criticism recently after a damaging report about its performance.
The service, which covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, was criticised for almost two years over its poor response times, particularly in rural areas, before it was reviewed.
MP Anthony Marsh, who carried out the review, said managers had developed a 'sense of helplessness' which had led to the failings. All five non-executive directors of the Trust have since resigned in the wake of the scandal.
Mr Edwards' sister Madelaine described the agonising last few hours before the ambulance finally arrived on December 5 last year.
She told the Cambridge News: 'I knew my brother was going to die. The last few hours of his life were horrific. He deserved so much better than that.'
Mrs Edwards has called for 999 operators to be better trained so that emergency calls are properly assessed.
Her local MP Julian Huppert has written to the Trust asking for a full investigation into the case.
The Trust told him that a review had been carried out, but as Mrs Edwards was not happy with the conclusions, a fresh investigation is underway.
Mr Huppert described the treatment of Mr Edwards as 'appalling'. He said a full review is necessary so that lessons are learned.
A spokesman for the EEAT told Cambridge News: 'The MP Julian Huppert made an official complaint in December and the concerns were investigated and EEAST sent their findings to Julian Huppert.
'Following this, he wasn’t happy with the outcome so the investigation has been reopened by EEAST and this is an on-going process.
'Once the follow up investigation is resolved, Julian will receive the updates as a matter of priority.'
This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Saturday, 8 June 2013
999 delays that cost lives
Just three months old, she died after suffering a fit and her breathing stopped. Her mother, Amy Carter, had dialled 999, but the ambulance took 26 minutes to arrive – more than three times as long as it should – because the driver got lost.
On the way to hospital, the driver took another wrong turn and by the time Bella reached hospital she had not been breathing for nearly an hour.
“If they had got to her in time she would be alive today,” said Miss Carter, 24. She, her boyfriend, Scott Hellings, and their daughter had the misfortune of living in Norfolk, served by Britain’s worst ambulance service.
Bella’s death highlights the crisis threatening England’s emergency service.
The Government set a target for paramedics to reach 75 per cent of “life-threatening” emergencies, such as cardiac arrests, within eight minutes.
A second target stipulates that an ambulance must arrive to take a patient to hospital within 19 minutes in 95 per cent of all such cases.
But a look at March, the latest month for which data is available, reveals that six of the 10 English trusts failed to reach the first target: East Midlands, East of England, North West, South Western, Yorkshire, and South East Coast.
The first four also missed the second target.
It was the third busiest month in the past three years, according to NHS England. In all, 430,182 emergency journeys were made, compared with 417,892 in March 2012, a rise of 3 per cent mainly caused by a combination of a reduction in GP out-of-hours services, the failure of the new 111 helpline to cope with calls, and an ageing population.
Figures analysed by The Telegraph show that for the year ending March 31 the East of England Ambulance Service, which caters for a population of six million, was the only one to miss both targets. The failures are being blamed on understaffing and mismanagement.
East Midlands missed its target for reaching 95 per cent of cases within 19 minutes over the past 12 months and was fined £3.5 million.
Things are worst in Norfolk, with East of England reaching a little over 60 per cent of “life threatening” cases in eight minutes. It is being fined about £2.2 million.
A Care Quality Commission report in March said the trust had “fallen short” of national standards, concluding: “Since our last inspection the trust’s performance in relation to its ambulance response times had deteriorated and people could not be assured they would receive care in a timely and effective manner.”
The report suggested the times between sending “solo responders” who could then call for ambulance back-up varied widely.
An ambulance could take as long as 100 minutes to arrive once a paramedic, on a motorcycle or in a car, had requested emergency transport to hospital.
The report prompted Maria Ball, the ambulance trust’s chairman, to resign immediately. Its chief executive, Hayden Newton, left in October.
Bella, who was born prematurely, had a congenital heart problem. It took 26 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at her home in Thetford after the driver – relying on a satnav – got lost.
On the way to hospital in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, Miss Carter yelled directions from the back of the ambulance. But it is alleged the driver still got lost after twice driving around a roundabout, then taking a wrong turn.
Miss Carter said: “The people who were meant to help failed Bella.”
In the month Bella died, four adults also died in incidents where delays by East of England – which also covers Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire – in reaching them were a possible factor.
The trust has also faced criticism over delays in non emergency cases. In April, an inquest heard how Isabel Carter, 74, from Wymondham, Norfolk, died in 2011 after waiting four hours for an ambulance.
By the time it arrived, the grandmother, who had originally complained of stomach pains, had gone into cardiac arrest. She died within minutes of reaching hospital.
An internal investigation found control room procedures were not followed, so the call was not upgraded from “urgent” to “emergency”.
Sharon Allison, a medical negligence lawyer at Ashton KCJ, representing Bella’s parents, said: “The plight of the ambulance service has been known for months, if not years … Yet the same excuses are still being trotted out.
"The service was warned of dire consequences if it didn’t recruit more staff. It refused to do so. Patients died.”
East of England published a “turnaround” plan in April, including hiring 350 specialist staff and new “tough” sickness absence targets.
Andrew Morgan, its new chief executive, said: “We need to improve the service we give to patients and better support our dedicated and committed staff.
“Transforming the organisation will take time, but we have the staff and the focus to turn things around together.”
Stephen Dorrell, the Conservative chairman of the health select committee, which is carrying out a review of emergency services and emergency care, said: “I think it is a cause for concern.
"It is another symptom of the same issue that arises when we look at 111 and A&E care.
“The ability of the health service to deliver urgent and emergency high quality care is one of the things increasingly coming into focus.”
This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.
On the way to hospital, the driver took another wrong turn and by the time Bella reached hospital she had not been breathing for nearly an hour.
“If they had got to her in time she would be alive today,” said Miss Carter, 24. She, her boyfriend, Scott Hellings, and their daughter had the misfortune of living in Norfolk, served by Britain’s worst ambulance service.
Bella’s death highlights the crisis threatening England’s emergency service.
The Government set a target for paramedics to reach 75 per cent of “life-threatening” emergencies, such as cardiac arrests, within eight minutes.
A second target stipulates that an ambulance must arrive to take a patient to hospital within 19 minutes in 95 per cent of all such cases.
But a look at March, the latest month for which data is available, reveals that six of the 10 English trusts failed to reach the first target: East Midlands, East of England, North West, South Western, Yorkshire, and South East Coast.
The first four also missed the second target.
It was the third busiest month in the past three years, according to NHS England. In all, 430,182 emergency journeys were made, compared with 417,892 in March 2012, a rise of 3 per cent mainly caused by a combination of a reduction in GP out-of-hours services, the failure of the new 111 helpline to cope with calls, and an ageing population.
Figures analysed by The Telegraph show that for the year ending March 31 the East of England Ambulance Service, which caters for a population of six million, was the only one to miss both targets. The failures are being blamed on understaffing and mismanagement.
East Midlands missed its target for reaching 95 per cent of cases within 19 minutes over the past 12 months and was fined £3.5 million.
Things are worst in Norfolk, with East of England reaching a little over 60 per cent of “life threatening” cases in eight minutes. It is being fined about £2.2 million.
A Care Quality Commission report in March said the trust had “fallen short” of national standards, concluding: “Since our last inspection the trust’s performance in relation to its ambulance response times had deteriorated and people could not be assured they would receive care in a timely and effective manner.”
The report suggested the times between sending “solo responders” who could then call for ambulance back-up varied widely.
An ambulance could take as long as 100 minutes to arrive once a paramedic, on a motorcycle or in a car, had requested emergency transport to hospital.
The report prompted Maria Ball, the ambulance trust’s chairman, to resign immediately. Its chief executive, Hayden Newton, left in October.
Bella, who was born prematurely, had a congenital heart problem. It took 26 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at her home in Thetford after the driver – relying on a satnav – got lost.
On the way to hospital in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, Miss Carter yelled directions from the back of the ambulance. But it is alleged the driver still got lost after twice driving around a roundabout, then taking a wrong turn.
Miss Carter said: “The people who were meant to help failed Bella.”
In the month Bella died, four adults also died in incidents where delays by East of England – which also covers Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire – in reaching them were a possible factor.
The trust has also faced criticism over delays in non emergency cases. In April, an inquest heard how Isabel Carter, 74, from Wymondham, Norfolk, died in 2011 after waiting four hours for an ambulance.
By the time it arrived, the grandmother, who had originally complained of stomach pains, had gone into cardiac arrest. She died within minutes of reaching hospital.
An internal investigation found control room procedures were not followed, so the call was not upgraded from “urgent” to “emergency”.
Sharon Allison, a medical negligence lawyer at Ashton KCJ, representing Bella’s parents, said: “The plight of the ambulance service has been known for months, if not years … Yet the same excuses are still being trotted out.
"The service was warned of dire consequences if it didn’t recruit more staff. It refused to do so. Patients died.”
East of England published a “turnaround” plan in April, including hiring 350 specialist staff and new “tough” sickness absence targets.
Andrew Morgan, its new chief executive, said: “We need to improve the service we give to patients and better support our dedicated and committed staff.
“Transforming the organisation will take time, but we have the staff and the focus to turn things around together.”
Stephen Dorrell, the Conservative chairman of the health select committee, which is carrying out a review of emergency services and emergency care, said: “I think it is a cause for concern.
"It is another symptom of the same issue that arises when we look at 111 and A&E care.
“The ability of the health service to deliver urgent and emergency high quality care is one of the things increasingly coming into focus.”
This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Boy, 2, clings to life after oxygen loss in ambulance transfer
A two-year-old Manitoba boy is in hospital, suffering from severe brain damage after his father says he was deprived of oxygen during an air ambulance transfer earlier this month.
Manitoba Health is reviewing the tragic incident that has left Morgan, 2, clinging to life.Manitoba Health is reviewing the tragic incident that has left Morgan, 2, clinging to life. (Courtesy the Moar family)
A STARS air crew picked up Morgan Moar Campbell in Brandon on May 2, for a flight to Winnipeg's Children's Hospital, because he had experienced a seizure.
The toddler was sedated and had a breathing tube inserted in his throat, but the tube somehow came out while he was being moved from the helicopter to an ambulance in Winnipeg, according to members of his family.
Morgan's father, Blair Campbell, told CBC News on Wednesday that his son would have been fine if he had not been deprived of oxygen for about 30 minutes when the breathing tube became dislodged.
"They don't know what they took from us," Campbell said, sobbing. "Morgan was just a happy child."
Morgan now has severe brain damage as a result of the oxygen deprivation.
"His eyes open up but he doesn't focus on us; he doesn't know we're there," said Bonnie Moar, the boy's aunt.
"He doesn't respond to his mom or his dad or any one of us. He seems to be in a lot of pain."
Campbell said he and his girlfriend — the boy's mother — are heartbroken. Morgan's mother has not been able to sleep and feels guilty about her son's situation, he added.
"He was playful, he liked to jiggle. He was pretty much happy," Campbell said. "They don't know what's missing in our life."
Moar said a doctor, a nurse and a paramedic were all with Morgan during the flight, but no one could tell the family what happened.
Morgan's family wants to meet with those staff members to discuss the incident, she added.
"Their report says 'Unknown.' Nobody did see the breathing tube completely dislodged from Morgan's mouth. And that's very hard for us to accept," she said.
Moar said Morgan might need to be permanently hooked up to a breathing machine for the rest of his life.
Incident under investigation
STARS, which stands for the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society, operates a medical helicopter that is like a "flying emergency room," travelling across Manitoba to help those who are critically ill or injured.
Officials with STARS are investigating the incident, which is also under review by Manitoba Health.
"This is something we take with an ultimate level of seriousness," said Dr. Doug Martin, the medical director at STARS.
"We'll be conducting a thorough review of this call with the hope of conclusively identifying what the causes were and finding out what we can do to protect from a recurrence."
Martin said emergency medical staff are always learning more about how to transfer patients safely.
"We believe that there is no such thing as a perfect mission," he said.
"There are always things to learn from. Little things that may be inconsequential from the standpoint of the patient, but they're very important to us because they represent opportunities to learn from our experience, to continuously improve our safety."
All the findings from the STARS investigation will be shared with Morgan's family, said Martin, but he added that only the doctors involved will meet with them.
Statement from Manitoba Health
This is a tragic incident, and health professionals have been in contact with the family.
The incident is currently under review by Manitoba Health, however the law prevents us from sharing the specifics of any single case.
Manitoba Health is committed to patient safety, and a full open process which is why Manitoba Health now has legislation in place requiring investigations of critical incidents, to identify what happened and what can be changed to improve safety in health care.
This legislation also requires health providers, including STARS and RHAs, to share the outcome of this investigation with patients and/or their family.
STARS has done its own internal review.
When the provincial review is complete, the facts of the incident and the actions already taken, as well as what actions are planned, will be shared with the family and the organizations involved.
This article is courtesy of CBC News.
Manitoba Health is reviewing the tragic incident that has left Morgan, 2, clinging to life.Manitoba Health is reviewing the tragic incident that has left Morgan, 2, clinging to life. (Courtesy the Moar family)
A STARS air crew picked up Morgan Moar Campbell in Brandon on May 2, for a flight to Winnipeg's Children's Hospital, because he had experienced a seizure.
The toddler was sedated and had a breathing tube inserted in his throat, but the tube somehow came out while he was being moved from the helicopter to an ambulance in Winnipeg, according to members of his family.
Morgan's father, Blair Campbell, told CBC News on Wednesday that his son would have been fine if he had not been deprived of oxygen for about 30 minutes when the breathing tube became dislodged.
"They don't know what they took from us," Campbell said, sobbing. "Morgan was just a happy child."
Morgan now has severe brain damage as a result of the oxygen deprivation.
"His eyes open up but he doesn't focus on us; he doesn't know we're there," said Bonnie Moar, the boy's aunt.
"He doesn't respond to his mom or his dad or any one of us. He seems to be in a lot of pain."
Campbell said he and his girlfriend — the boy's mother — are heartbroken. Morgan's mother has not been able to sleep and feels guilty about her son's situation, he added.
"He was playful, he liked to jiggle. He was pretty much happy," Campbell said. "They don't know what's missing in our life."
Moar said a doctor, a nurse and a paramedic were all with Morgan during the flight, but no one could tell the family what happened.
Morgan's family wants to meet with those staff members to discuss the incident, she added.
"Their report says 'Unknown.' Nobody did see the breathing tube completely dislodged from Morgan's mouth. And that's very hard for us to accept," she said.
Moar said Morgan might need to be permanently hooked up to a breathing machine for the rest of his life.
Incident under investigation
STARS, which stands for the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society, operates a medical helicopter that is like a "flying emergency room," travelling across Manitoba to help those who are critically ill or injured.
Officials with STARS are investigating the incident, which is also under review by Manitoba Health.
"This is something we take with an ultimate level of seriousness," said Dr. Doug Martin, the medical director at STARS.
"We'll be conducting a thorough review of this call with the hope of conclusively identifying what the causes were and finding out what we can do to protect from a recurrence."
Martin said emergency medical staff are always learning more about how to transfer patients safely.
"We believe that there is no such thing as a perfect mission," he said.
"There are always things to learn from. Little things that may be inconsequential from the standpoint of the patient, but they're very important to us because they represent opportunities to learn from our experience, to continuously improve our safety."
All the findings from the STARS investigation will be shared with Morgan's family, said Martin, but he added that only the doctors involved will meet with them.
Statement from Manitoba Health
This is a tragic incident, and health professionals have been in contact with the family.
The incident is currently under review by Manitoba Health, however the law prevents us from sharing the specifics of any single case.
Manitoba Health is committed to patient safety, and a full open process which is why Manitoba Health now has legislation in place requiring investigations of critical incidents, to identify what happened and what can be changed to improve safety in health care.
This legislation also requires health providers, including STARS and RHAs, to share the outcome of this investigation with patients and/or their family.
STARS has done its own internal review.
When the provincial review is complete, the facts of the incident and the actions already taken, as well as what actions are planned, will be shared with the family and the organizations involved.
This article is courtesy of CBC News.
Friday, 31 May 2013
Officials point to human error in 6-year-old boy's death after ambulance sent to wrong address
It came down to the push of a button.
Authorities in New York blamed human error - not the city's Unified Call Taking system - for a 12-minute delay that may have contributed to the death of ailing 6-year-old, Ian Uro.
"It looks like an accident," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's chief spokesman.
Mariela Lazaro was too distraught to provide the correct cross streets when she called 911 on Thursday. A 911 dispatcher hit the wrong computer key, searching a Brooklyn database for the information even though Ian's mother was calling from Manhattan. The stroke of the wrong button mistakenly sent an ambulance crew to Avenue C in Brooklyn - instead of Avenue C in Stuyvesant Town.
The Brooklyn crew arrived at 9:10 a.m., six minutes after Lazaro first called 911 and said her son's nose was bleeding. When paramedics suspected there was a problem with the address, they called the mother and learned of the error.
A second crew was sent to the correct address in Manhattan. That ambulance arrived at 9:22 a.m., but the boy was already dead. It wasn't immediately clear if the boy could have been saved.
The call system, has been blamed in several 911 delays - including two fires that claimed six lives - during which firefighters were sent to the wrong addresses.
Ian had been sick, his maternal grandmother told the Daily News Friday. Relatives took him to Beth Israel Medical Center on Monday for treatment of a fever and other flu-like symptoms. On Wednesday, sources said, the boy was taken to a clinic.
"It's so sad," said his grandmother, who had was visiting from Argentina. She declined to give her name.
Autopsy results were inconclusive pending further tests, officials said.
This article is courtesy of Daily News.
Authorities in New York blamed human error - not the city's Unified Call Taking system - for a 12-minute delay that may have contributed to the death of ailing 6-year-old, Ian Uro.
"It looks like an accident," said Paul Browne, the NYPD's chief spokesman.
Mariela Lazaro was too distraught to provide the correct cross streets when she called 911 on Thursday. A 911 dispatcher hit the wrong computer key, searching a Brooklyn database for the information even though Ian's mother was calling from Manhattan. The stroke of the wrong button mistakenly sent an ambulance crew to Avenue C in Brooklyn - instead of Avenue C in Stuyvesant Town.
The Brooklyn crew arrived at 9:10 a.m., six minutes after Lazaro first called 911 and said her son's nose was bleeding. When paramedics suspected there was a problem with the address, they called the mother and learned of the error.
A second crew was sent to the correct address in Manhattan. That ambulance arrived at 9:22 a.m., but the boy was already dead. It wasn't immediately clear if the boy could have been saved.
The call system, has been blamed in several 911 delays - including two fires that claimed six lives - during which firefighters were sent to the wrong addresses.
Ian had been sick, his maternal grandmother told the Daily News Friday. Relatives took him to Beth Israel Medical Center on Monday for treatment of a fever and other flu-like symptoms. On Wednesday, sources said, the boy was taken to a clinic.
"It's so sad," said his grandmother, who had was visiting from Argentina. She declined to give her name.
Autopsy results were inconclusive pending further tests, officials said.
This article is courtesy of Daily News.
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Ambulance service admits errors after woman left brain-damaged
An ambulance service has admitted a catalogue of errors after a late response to an emergency call left a woman brain damaged.
Caren Paterson, who had collapsed in her bedroom, suffered serious brain injuries after she was forced to wait nearly two hours for an ambulance that was just 100 metres away.
Paramedics had been ordered not to enter her flat without a police escort as officers had previously attended the premises and it was graded as high risk.
The delay caused her brain to be starved of oxygen, leaving her in need of specialist care for the rest of her life.
Lawyers acting on her behalf have demanded urgent improvements in the handling of 999 calls in London after the capital's ambulance service admitted 11 separate breaches of duty.
Paterson, 33, collapsed in the bedroom of her Islington flat early in the afternoon of 27 October 2007, and her condition quickly deteriorated, prompting her boyfriend to call 999 and report that she was unconscious, breathing abnormally and her lips were blue.
However, because police had previously been called to the Hargrave Road address, it was flagged as being on the high-risk address register and the ambulance crew was told to wait for a police escort.
There were no police available at that time and, despite a further two 999 calls from her boyfriend, the emergency medical team waited for more than an hour just 100 metres from her flat.
Paterson, who had been working as a researcher at King's College Hospital, eventually suffered a cardiac arrest at around 3.15pm, five minutes before police and an ambulance team arrived.
She now suffers long-term brain injury symptoms including chronic amnesia, anger outbursts, confusion and disorientation.
Her lawyer, John Davis, said it was not known why her property was on the high-risk register.
He said: "There is a list of failings and breaches of duty that occurred in response to the 999 call.
"It is particularly heartbreaking for Ms Paterson's family to know that an emergency response team was in very close proximity to her but unable to give her the crucial treatment she needed.
"The emergency crews eventually arrived 102 minutes after the first 999 call – but even then there was nobody senior enough on hand to administer the treatment that Ms Paterson needed.
"It is imperative that people in Ms Paterson's condition are treated as quickly as possible – even seconds can make a huge difference, let alone over an hour and a half.
"The emergency services had been made abundantly aware of the seriousness of her condition yet failed on several levels to handle the situation in accordance with their own guidelines.
"But for these failings and contraventions, Ms Paterson would have received appropriate medical treatment sooner, would have been taken to A&E sooner, and consequently would not have suffered the injuries she did.
"Following Ms Paterson's case, it has been acknowledged that the way the high-risk address register was operated needed to be radically overhauled – we endorse any review and improvement to this system which was clearly at the heart of the failings in this case.
"We appreciate the London Ambulance Service's admission of liability for the failings and we will now be working to secure a care package that will allow Ms Paterson to live in as much comfort as possible, and will afford her family some degree of peace of mind."
Paterson's mother, Eleanor Paterson, of Warkworth, Northumberland, said: "We welcome the admission of liability as a significant step towards ensuring Caren will continue to receive the care, treatment and specialist attention she will need for the rest of her life, but nothing will return our daughter to the way we knew her.
"The thought of an ambulance crew sitting waiting while my daughter lay in her flat as her condition went from serious to life-threatening, causing irreparable damage to her brain, is still shocking.
"Although I appreciate fully that the emergency services have guidelines in place, I now know that there were further procedures that should have been followed and, if they had been, my daughter would have received the treatment she needed."
The London Ambulance Service admitted 11 separate breaches of duty that contributed to Paterson's injuries, including failing to comply with hospital trust policies, failing to recognise there was no danger at the flat, and failing to assess the life-threatening nature of Paterson's condition.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We would like again to offer our sincere apologies to Dr Caren Paterson and to her family.
"We carried out a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the incident and we have accepted liability for the shortcomings in the care that was provided on 27 October 2007.
"Dr Paterson is bringing a claim for compensation against the service and we hope that the legal representatives can now work together to find a resolution."
This article is courtesy of theguardian.
Caren Paterson, who had collapsed in her bedroom, suffered serious brain injuries after she was forced to wait nearly two hours for an ambulance that was just 100 metres away.
Paramedics had been ordered not to enter her flat without a police escort as officers had previously attended the premises and it was graded as high risk.
The delay caused her brain to be starved of oxygen, leaving her in need of specialist care for the rest of her life.
Lawyers acting on her behalf have demanded urgent improvements in the handling of 999 calls in London after the capital's ambulance service admitted 11 separate breaches of duty.
Paterson, 33, collapsed in the bedroom of her Islington flat early in the afternoon of 27 October 2007, and her condition quickly deteriorated, prompting her boyfriend to call 999 and report that she was unconscious, breathing abnormally and her lips were blue.
However, because police had previously been called to the Hargrave Road address, it was flagged as being on the high-risk address register and the ambulance crew was told to wait for a police escort.
There were no police available at that time and, despite a further two 999 calls from her boyfriend, the emergency medical team waited for more than an hour just 100 metres from her flat.
Paterson, who had been working as a researcher at King's College Hospital, eventually suffered a cardiac arrest at around 3.15pm, five minutes before police and an ambulance team arrived.
She now suffers long-term brain injury symptoms including chronic amnesia, anger outbursts, confusion and disorientation.
Her lawyer, John Davis, said it was not known why her property was on the high-risk register.
He said: "There is a list of failings and breaches of duty that occurred in response to the 999 call.
"It is particularly heartbreaking for Ms Paterson's family to know that an emergency response team was in very close proximity to her but unable to give her the crucial treatment she needed.
"The emergency crews eventually arrived 102 minutes after the first 999 call – but even then there was nobody senior enough on hand to administer the treatment that Ms Paterson needed.
"It is imperative that people in Ms Paterson's condition are treated as quickly as possible – even seconds can make a huge difference, let alone over an hour and a half.
"The emergency services had been made abundantly aware of the seriousness of her condition yet failed on several levels to handle the situation in accordance with their own guidelines.
"But for these failings and contraventions, Ms Paterson would have received appropriate medical treatment sooner, would have been taken to A&E sooner, and consequently would not have suffered the injuries she did.
"Following Ms Paterson's case, it has been acknowledged that the way the high-risk address register was operated needed to be radically overhauled – we endorse any review and improvement to this system which was clearly at the heart of the failings in this case.
"We appreciate the London Ambulance Service's admission of liability for the failings and we will now be working to secure a care package that will allow Ms Paterson to live in as much comfort as possible, and will afford her family some degree of peace of mind."
Paterson's mother, Eleanor Paterson, of Warkworth, Northumberland, said: "We welcome the admission of liability as a significant step towards ensuring Caren will continue to receive the care, treatment and specialist attention she will need for the rest of her life, but nothing will return our daughter to the way we knew her.
"The thought of an ambulance crew sitting waiting while my daughter lay in her flat as her condition went from serious to life-threatening, causing irreparable damage to her brain, is still shocking.
"Although I appreciate fully that the emergency services have guidelines in place, I now know that there were further procedures that should have been followed and, if they had been, my daughter would have received the treatment she needed."
The London Ambulance Service admitted 11 separate breaches of duty that contributed to Paterson's injuries, including failing to comply with hospital trust policies, failing to recognise there was no danger at the flat, and failing to assess the life-threatening nature of Paterson's condition.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We would like again to offer our sincere apologies to Dr Caren Paterson and to her family.
"We carried out a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the incident and we have accepted liability for the shortcomings in the care that was provided on 27 October 2007.
"Dr Paterson is bringing a claim for compensation against the service and we hope that the legal representatives can now work together to find a resolution."
This article is courtesy of theguardian.
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Woman died after ambulance error
A 93-year-old woman died after she fell when left at the wrong house by an ambulance crew, an inquest has heard.
The crew realised their mistake when they arrived at Mary Purnell's correct address, but dropped off more patients before returning to find her.
When they arrived at the house in Dinas Powys, south Wales, Mrs Purnell, who had dementia, was found with a broken leg. She died five weeks later.
A narrative verdict was returned at Cardiff coroner's court.
A narrative verdict is used when a chain of events has led to a person's death.
After the verdict, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust said it wished to express its condolences to Mrs Purnell's family.
In a statement, the trust added: "The trust has reviewed its procedures following the incident and has listened carefully to the conclusions of the inquest and the coroner's comments."
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust said: "Following this tragic incident, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust has conducted an internal investigation, co-operated fully with all other agencies and reviewed and continues to review its policies and procedures."
The court heard that on 20 August, 2003, Mrs Purnell had been to a day unit in Barry.
She was collected at the end of the day by an ambulance crew who had around five or six other patients to take home.
Ambulance man Roy Jeffries told the hearing that he and driver David MacAdam were given a list of names and addresses, but the list contained details of people due to travel on one of two ambulances.
Empty house
They were not told which patients would be on their vehicle.
When the ambulance arrived at the house in Dinas Powys they "assumed" that Mrs Purnell lived there, the court heard.
In fact the woman who lived there had earlier been collected from the day centre by her son.
The ambulance staff found a door key under a flower pot, took Mrs Purnell into the empty house, placed her in a chair and left.
Asked why Mrs Purnell had been picked out, Mr MacAdam said: "I honestly can't answer that question."
After leaving the pensioner in Dinas Powys, the ambulance crew drove to the home she shared with her daughter, Christine Jones, in nearby Penarth.
"Mrs Purnell's daughter came out and met us and we didn't know who was to be dropped off," said Mr MacAdam.
'Redress mistake'
"We knew it was a Mrs Purnell but we didn't know who Mrs Purnell was, so I asked her to identify her mother.
"She could not. Then I realised we had made an awful mistake.
"We said we would go back to Dinas Powys and try to redress the mistake."
Mr MacAdam said he decided to drop off the rest of his patients before going back to collect Mrs Purnell because at least one person on board needed to use the toilet.
When the ambulance crew returned to the house where they had left Mrs Purnell in Dinas Powys, they found her lying on a garden terrace, crying in pain.
The widow, who had dementia and chronic lymphatic leukaemia and could not be left alone, had suffered a broken leg in the fall. She died in hospital on 29 September.
'Left unsupervised'
Cardiff and Vale coroner Dr Lawrence Addicott said: "The pathologist said she died from bronchial pneumonia due to dementia, chronic lymphatic leukaemia and the fracture.
"He was unable to say that one of those three conditions was directly related to her death more than the other.
"The fractured femur had been a contributory factor since she had become immobile since the operation."
Delivering a narrative verdict, Dr Addicott added: "Mrs Purnell, who suffered from chronic lymphatic leukaemia and dementia, died following a fracture of the femur that she sustained when she fell in the garden of a premises to which she had been returned from a day centre.
"She had been returned to the incorrect address, of which she was not familiar, and left unsupervised."
Solicitor Peter Maynard, acting for Mrs Purnell's family, said they were considering whether to take further action and hoped that steps had been taken to prevent such an incident ever happening again.
This article is courtesy of BBC News.
The crew realised their mistake when they arrived at Mary Purnell's correct address, but dropped off more patients before returning to find her.
When they arrived at the house in Dinas Powys, south Wales, Mrs Purnell, who had dementia, was found with a broken leg. She died five weeks later.
A narrative verdict was returned at Cardiff coroner's court.
A narrative verdict is used when a chain of events has led to a person's death.
After the verdict, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust said it wished to express its condolences to Mrs Purnell's family.
In a statement, the trust added: "The trust has reviewed its procedures following the incident and has listened carefully to the conclusions of the inquest and the coroner's comments."
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust said: "Following this tragic incident, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust has conducted an internal investigation, co-operated fully with all other agencies and reviewed and continues to review its policies and procedures."
The court heard that on 20 August, 2003, Mrs Purnell had been to a day unit in Barry.
She was collected at the end of the day by an ambulance crew who had around five or six other patients to take home.
Ambulance man Roy Jeffries told the hearing that he and driver David MacAdam were given a list of names and addresses, but the list contained details of people due to travel on one of two ambulances.
Empty house
They were not told which patients would be on their vehicle.
When the ambulance arrived at the house in Dinas Powys they "assumed" that Mrs Purnell lived there, the court heard.
In fact the woman who lived there had earlier been collected from the day centre by her son.
The ambulance staff found a door key under a flower pot, took Mrs Purnell into the empty house, placed her in a chair and left.
Asked why Mrs Purnell had been picked out, Mr MacAdam said: "I honestly can't answer that question."
After leaving the pensioner in Dinas Powys, the ambulance crew drove to the home she shared with her daughter, Christine Jones, in nearby Penarth.
"Mrs Purnell's daughter came out and met us and we didn't know who was to be dropped off," said Mr MacAdam.
'Redress mistake'
"We knew it was a Mrs Purnell but we didn't know who Mrs Purnell was, so I asked her to identify her mother.
"She could not. Then I realised we had made an awful mistake.
"We said we would go back to Dinas Powys and try to redress the mistake."
Mr MacAdam said he decided to drop off the rest of his patients before going back to collect Mrs Purnell because at least one person on board needed to use the toilet.
When the ambulance crew returned to the house where they had left Mrs Purnell in Dinas Powys, they found her lying on a garden terrace, crying in pain.
The widow, who had dementia and chronic lymphatic leukaemia and could not be left alone, had suffered a broken leg in the fall. She died in hospital on 29 September.
'Left unsupervised'
Cardiff and Vale coroner Dr Lawrence Addicott said: "The pathologist said she died from bronchial pneumonia due to dementia, chronic lymphatic leukaemia and the fracture.
"He was unable to say that one of those three conditions was directly related to her death more than the other.
"The fractured femur had been a contributory factor since she had become immobile since the operation."
Delivering a narrative verdict, Dr Addicott added: "Mrs Purnell, who suffered from chronic lymphatic leukaemia and dementia, died following a fracture of the femur that she sustained when she fell in the garden of a premises to which she had been returned from a day centre.
"She had been returned to the incorrect address, of which she was not familiar, and left unsupervised."
Solicitor Peter Maynard, acting for Mrs Purnell's family, said they were considering whether to take further action and hoped that steps had been taken to prevent such an incident ever happening again.
This article is courtesy of BBC News.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Ambulance service mistakes resulted in up to four deaths in Australia
Ambulance mistakes in Western Australia have resulted in up to four deaths with one fatality confirmed as being caused by an internal error.
St John Ambulance chief executive Tony Ahern revealed to The Sunday Times last night that five deaths required investigation for potentially fatal errors in the past year.
At least one death was the result of a mistake. It is understood it was a medication error.
SJA was cleared of wrongdoing in another death, but the other three investigations are pending.
For the first time St John Ambulance has revealed the number of sentinel events on its records.
A sentinel event refers to a "catastrophic outcome" for a patient through a medical error.
SJA was forced to collecting data on these events in October last year after a government inquiry into the ambulance service.
Mr Ahern said the potentially fatal errors related to ambulance response times, "clinical protocols" and handling of medication.
Changes ordered as a direct result of the deaths include a review of medications, aspects of paramedic training and ambulance guidelines.
It comes as the latest figures show that ambulance response times in WA are the slowest they have been in a decade.
More than 10 per cent of emergency calls are not responded to in the required 15 minutes.
And more than 20 per cent of non-urgent calls are not responded to within the required 60 minutes.
Mr Ahern said confidentiality prevented him from releasing specific details of the five deaths.
"We are unable to release any information which could in any way identify, or potentially identify, the individuals involved or details regarding the investigation," he said.
SJA has hired an independent firm, KPMG, to undertake an audit and review of the company's management of sentinel events.
A wide-ranging government inquiry into SJA was ordered last year after revelations that SJA mistakes caused four patient deaths, including one case where a 000 case was completely deleted.
The inquiry found that there was a crippling shortage of paramedics and phone operators in the state's ambulance service.
Mr Ahern said SJA was on track to meet ambitious employment targets.
For example, 118 paramedics had been recruited in the past year above the target of 93.
The Sunday Times understands that SJA is looking at introducing a system to fast-track training of nurses who want to be paramedics.
Last financial year, 200,000 ambulance patients were treated in WA.
Mr Ahern said the management of sentinel events was overseen by the SJA's clinical quality improvement committee.
It consists of representatives from the Health Department and the Health Consumers Council.
St John Ambulance chief executive Tony Ahern revealed to The Sunday Times last night that five deaths required investigation for potentially fatal errors in the past year.
At least one death was the result of a mistake. It is understood it was a medication error.
SJA was cleared of wrongdoing in another death, but the other three investigations are pending.
For the first time St John Ambulance has revealed the number of sentinel events on its records.
A sentinel event refers to a "catastrophic outcome" for a patient through a medical error.
SJA was forced to collecting data on these events in October last year after a government inquiry into the ambulance service.
Mr Ahern said the potentially fatal errors related to ambulance response times, "clinical protocols" and handling of medication.
Changes ordered as a direct result of the deaths include a review of medications, aspects of paramedic training and ambulance guidelines.
It comes as the latest figures show that ambulance response times in WA are the slowest they have been in a decade.
More than 10 per cent of emergency calls are not responded to in the required 15 minutes.
And more than 20 per cent of non-urgent calls are not responded to within the required 60 minutes.
Mr Ahern said confidentiality prevented him from releasing specific details of the five deaths.
"We are unable to release any information which could in any way identify, or potentially identify, the individuals involved or details regarding the investigation," he said.
SJA has hired an independent firm, KPMG, to undertake an audit and review of the company's management of sentinel events.
A wide-ranging government inquiry into SJA was ordered last year after revelations that SJA mistakes caused four patient deaths, including one case where a 000 case was completely deleted.
The inquiry found that there was a crippling shortage of paramedics and phone operators in the state's ambulance service.
Mr Ahern said SJA was on track to meet ambitious employment targets.
For example, 118 paramedics had been recruited in the past year above the target of 93.
The Sunday Times understands that SJA is looking at introducing a system to fast-track training of nurses who want to be paramedics.
Last financial year, 200,000 ambulance patients were treated in WA.
Mr Ahern said the management of sentinel events was overseen by the SJA's clinical quality improvement committee.
It consists of representatives from the Health Department and the Health Consumers Council.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
OAP broke hips after ambulance error
An investigation is under way after a 93-year-old woman broke her hips after she was dropped off by an ambulance crew at the wrong house.
The woman was taken to an empty house in Dinas Powys, south Wales, after visiting a day centre.
By the time the crew returned, the pensioner was found lying in the garden with broken hips.
The woman, who is normally cared for by her daughter at their home in Penarth, is in hospital.
A statement released by the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Cardiff and the Vale NHS Trust said they regretted the incident and apologised for any distress caused.
"A formal investigation has already been launched and will be finalised shortly," it said.
"Both organisations are reviewing the procedures for the discharge of older patients requiring ambulance transport in the light of this incident."
The family of the woman has asked to remain anonymous, but her daughter told BBC Radio Wales's Good Morning Wales programme that her mother must have been "nearly frantic".
She said: "For some inexplicable reason, they left her in the wrong house, completely alone. She must have been nearly frantic.
"When they came to me and I realised she wasn't on the ambulance, they realised what had happened and said they would go back for her. But it turns out they delivered all the remaining patients to their homes before going back to Dinas Powys, which was about an hour-and-a-half later."
The woman was taken to an empty house in Dinas Powys, south Wales, after visiting a day centre.
By the time the crew returned, the pensioner was found lying in the garden with broken hips.
The woman, who is normally cared for by her daughter at their home in Penarth, is in hospital.
A statement released by the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Cardiff and the Vale NHS Trust said they regretted the incident and apologised for any distress caused.
"A formal investigation has already been launched and will be finalised shortly," it said.
"Both organisations are reviewing the procedures for the discharge of older patients requiring ambulance transport in the light of this incident."
The family of the woman has asked to remain anonymous, but her daughter told BBC Radio Wales's Good Morning Wales programme that her mother must have been "nearly frantic".
She said: "For some inexplicable reason, they left her in the wrong house, completely alone. She must have been nearly frantic.
"When they came to me and I realised she wasn't on the ambulance, they realised what had happened and said they would go back for her. But it turns out they delivered all the remaining patients to their homes before going back to Dinas Powys, which was about an hour-and-a-half later."
Monday, 10 December 2012
Stroke patients face unnecessary delays 'because of ambulance computer error'
More than half of strokes were not even diagnosed by the current system for assessing 999 calls, a new study has found.
Called the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch Software (AMPDS), the system is designed to help staff who are not medically trained to assess the level of care patients need.
But stroke patients are only categorised as a life-threatening emergency, and an ambulance despatched to reach them within eight minutes, if they are unconscious.
Other stroke victims are attended by an ambulance within 19 minutes.
The study looked at thosuands of admitted patients, 126 patients of whom were admitted to hospital and subsequently diagnosed as having had a stroke.
Researchers found that the software had correctly identified only 60 of the stroke patients, with the rest given a different diagnosis.
Additionally, 62 of the wider group of patients were wrongly listed as having had a stroke or mini-stroke.
Fewer than one in four stroke patients were deemed as the life-threatening emergency, the study, published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, also found.
Around 110,000 people suffer a stroke in Britain every year.
Evidence shows that prompt treatment can significantly reduce the chances of them dying or being left with a disability.
The report concludes that of all the patients finally diagnosed with a stroke the software allocated a correct diagnosis only "in approximately half of these patients".
The authors, from South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust in Hampshire, said that a significant number of patients would still receive an ambulance swiftly because they had collapsed or were unconscious.
But the underlying diagnosis of stroke would still be missed by the system, they said.
They also called for a review into services by the Department of Health.
"The current recommendations for a 19-minute response to (stroke) patients should be reviewed with the aim of upgrading to an eight- minute response," they said.
The study looked at patients arriving at the North Hampshire Hospital A&E department by ambulance.
Joe Korner, from The Stroke Association, said: "Stroke should always be treated as a medical emergency.
"Getting to hospital promptly after the onset of symptoms enables the patient to receive a brain scan to determine the type of stroke they have suffered.
"Arriving at hospital by ambulance is the best way to get access to acute stroke care and help reduce the risk of major disability."
This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.
Called the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch Software (AMPDS), the system is designed to help staff who are not medically trained to assess the level of care patients need.
But stroke patients are only categorised as a life-threatening emergency, and an ambulance despatched to reach them within eight minutes, if they are unconscious.
Other stroke victims are attended by an ambulance within 19 minutes.
The study looked at thosuands of admitted patients, 126 patients of whom were admitted to hospital and subsequently diagnosed as having had a stroke.
Researchers found that the software had correctly identified only 60 of the stroke patients, with the rest given a different diagnosis.
Additionally, 62 of the wider group of patients were wrongly listed as having had a stroke or mini-stroke.
Fewer than one in four stroke patients were deemed as the life-threatening emergency, the study, published in the Emergency Medicine Journal, also found.
Around 110,000 people suffer a stroke in Britain every year.
Evidence shows that prompt treatment can significantly reduce the chances of them dying or being left with a disability.
The report concludes that of all the patients finally diagnosed with a stroke the software allocated a correct diagnosis only "in approximately half of these patients".
The authors, from South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust in Hampshire, said that a significant number of patients would still receive an ambulance swiftly because they had collapsed or were unconscious.
But the underlying diagnosis of stroke would still be missed by the system, they said.
They also called for a review into services by the Department of Health.
"The current recommendations for a 19-minute response to (stroke) patients should be reviewed with the aim of upgrading to an eight- minute response," they said.
The study looked at patients arriving at the North Hampshire Hospital A&E department by ambulance.
Joe Korner, from The Stroke Association, said: "Stroke should always be treated as a medical emergency.
"Getting to hospital promptly after the onset of symptoms enables the patient to receive a brain scan to determine the type of stroke they have suffered.
"Arriving at hospital by ambulance is the best way to get access to acute stroke care and help reduce the risk of major disability."
This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Inquiry call over North East Ambulance Service error
A Middlesbrough councillor is calling for an independent inquiry into a family's claims that a man died because a 999 call handler refused to send an ambulance fast enough.
Steven Barley suffered a seizure and chest pains before his death in June.
The family dialled 999 but were told his condition was not life threatening. The ambulance service has since admitted a mistake was made.
Councillor Barry Coppinger said he would write to the secretary of state.
Mr Coppinger is a former chair of the town's emergency planning committee.
"I do think there is a need for an independent inquiry and assessment into what the NEAS is doing," he said.
"An internal inquiry is not good enough when a life has been lost."
He said two inquiries should be carried out, one into Mr Barley's case and a general inquiry into how the North East Ambulance Trust is operated.
He said this second inquiry was needed following allegations that the call handling system was inflexible.
One of those who spoke out was a former ambulance call handler, Karen Breslin, who worked for 11 years at the Teesside control room.
She said: "When you get more of a complex call the system can't deal with that.
"It's a flow chart system and it doesn't know how to deal with one or more problems.
"When you get someone with a multitude of problems, I don't trust it."
The ambulance service has defended its call handling system and its six week training scheme.
In a statement it said the Pathways system used by call handlers to determine whether or not an ambulance was needed had "undergone a full independent evaluation" commissioned by the Department of Health.
This article is courtesy of BBC News.
Steven Barley suffered a seizure and chest pains before his death in June.
The family dialled 999 but were told his condition was not life threatening. The ambulance service has since admitted a mistake was made.
Councillor Barry Coppinger said he would write to the secretary of state.
Mr Coppinger is a former chair of the town's emergency planning committee.
"I do think there is a need for an independent inquiry and assessment into what the NEAS is doing," he said.
"An internal inquiry is not good enough when a life has been lost."
He said two inquiries should be carried out, one into Mr Barley's case and a general inquiry into how the North East Ambulance Trust is operated.
He said this second inquiry was needed following allegations that the call handling system was inflexible.
One of those who spoke out was a former ambulance call handler, Karen Breslin, who worked for 11 years at the Teesside control room.
She said: "When you get more of a complex call the system can't deal with that.
"It's a flow chart system and it doesn't know how to deal with one or more problems.
"When you get someone with a multitude of problems, I don't trust it."
The ambulance service has defended its call handling system and its six week training scheme.
In a statement it said the Pathways system used by call handlers to determine whether or not an ambulance was needed had "undergone a full independent evaluation" commissioned by the Department of Health.
This article is courtesy of BBC News.
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Apology for fatal ambulance error
An ambulance service has apologised to the family of a Nottingham man who was refused transport to hospital shortly before dying from a heart attack.
Brenda Brewster called the emergency services when her husband Charles, 72, lay on the kitchen floor of their home in Bulwell after collapsing.
But an East Midlands Ambulance Service (Emas) operator told her the call did not warrant a "high priority" response.
Mr Brewster died last November while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Emas has admitted the call should have been given a higher priority.
The couple's daughter, Sarah Colton, said her father had had a history of health problems.
"He had Parkinson's disease, he'd been in remission from cancer, he had heart disease, thyroid problems...he used to fall regularly.
"When the time was there when we needed an ambulance, we couldn't get one.
"He was a wonderful man, he'd do anything to help anybody...he was such a gentle man."
In a statement, Emas said: "It was classified as a category C call and passed to a control nurse.
"We feel that on the basis of the information we received the initial call should have been upgraded in the first instance as a category B call - serious."
The family has made an official complaint to the ambulance service.
This article is courtesy BBC News.
Brenda Brewster called the emergency services when her husband Charles, 72, lay on the kitchen floor of their home in Bulwell after collapsing.
But an East Midlands Ambulance Service (Emas) operator told her the call did not warrant a "high priority" response.
Mr Brewster died last November while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Emas has admitted the call should have been given a higher priority.
The couple's daughter, Sarah Colton, said her father had had a history of health problems.
"He had Parkinson's disease, he'd been in remission from cancer, he had heart disease, thyroid problems...he used to fall regularly.
"When the time was there when we needed an ambulance, we couldn't get one.
"He was a wonderful man, he'd do anything to help anybody...he was such a gentle man."
In a statement, Emas said: "It was classified as a category C call and passed to a control nurse.
"We feel that on the basis of the information we received the initial call should have been upgraded in the first instance as a category B call - serious."
The family has made an official complaint to the ambulance service.
This article is courtesy BBC News.
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