Patient dies after wait of 14 hours for ambulance

AN ELDERLY woman died after falling in a care home, breaking her thigh bone, and having to wait 14 hours for an ambulance.

- RUTH MOSALSKI

The coroner who presided over the inquest into the death of 89-year-old Valerie Hill has issued a warning to First Minister Eluned Morgan, that numerous warnings from both him and other coroners are not being acted on and “devastating” outcomes are happening because of continued hospital or ambulance delays.

Mrs Hill died in March 2022 at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Pontyclun, following a fall at Ty Bargoed Care Home, run by Merthyr Tydfil council.

Graeme Hughes, senior coroner for the South Wales Central area, found she “endured” a long lie on the floor of over 14 hours while waiting for an ambulance to attend.

His finding was that “it is possible that this long lie exacerbated known medical conditions”. He also found: “It is probable that the lack of risk assessments completed and referrals for Valerie during her time at Ty Bargoed meant appropriate precautions were not taken to prevent further falls.

“It is possible, due to long ambulance handover times across Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board and inadequate systems in place to effectively manage patient flow, that this contributed to the long lie.”

The coroner has written to Mrs Morgan with his concerns and warned that, without action, there is a risk that future deaths will occur.

He detailed the “numerous” times Mrs Morgan has received warnings from both himself and other coroners “highlighting the devastating outcomes attributable to delays in conveying acutely unwell patients to hospital/ ambulance handover delays”.

“Those risks continue and are of acute concern to myself and my coronial colleagues throughout Wales,” he wrote in the conclusion.