South West Ambulance has the greatest wait times in the nation for patients to reach an operator. The average response time for ambulance control to 999 calls is nearly a minute, compared to barely five seconds for the West Midlands service.
Claire Iles, age 41, stated, “He simply glanced at me and passed away before anyone could reach him.”
“I called at 4 p.m. to report that he had turned gray and warned that if the ambulance did not arrive immediately, he would die; nonetheless, it took 20 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.”
Steve, 63, became unwell while she was at home with her parents in Yate, near Bristol, when she was there.
Six calls to 999 were made by her and her 71-year-old mother Jean; two of these calls went unanswered for 10 minutes.
Jean stated that by the time a South West Ambulance crew arrived 11 hours later, it was too late.
Mr. Iles passed away on 19 March at 17:10 GMT due to a strangulated hernia that severed the blood supply to his heart.
Internal hemorrhage
At 5:37, the first call to 999 was placed.
Claire said: “According to our knowledge, he was bringing up blood and internal hemorrhage.
“Each time we contacted, we emphasized this to the call center representative, who asked, “Does it resemble dark soil?”
“And we said ‘yes’. So they were aware that what he was bringing up was bleeding internally, but we were unable to convey the gravity of the situation to them.”
The trust has apologized for the grief and concern it has caused, but it has stated that it is still under “extraordinary strain.”
The South West Ambulance Trust has the longest emergency call wait times, according to the most recent data.
In September, it took an average of 56 seconds, which is far longer than many other services, such as East Midlands, which only required six seconds.
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) spokeswoman stated: “We regret that we were unable to respond to Mr. Iles promptly, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
The performance of our ambulance clinicians has not returned to pre-pandemic levels due, in part, to handover delays at emergency departments.
The trust stated that it was collaborating with its NHS and social care partners to enhance patient care.
In August, Charley Phiddes from Chipping Sodbury, near Bristol, was the first responder to a deadly motorcycle accident in Westerleigh.
It took her three minutes and two seconds to reach the 999 operators.
She reported being passed by a motorcyclist involved in a head-on accident with a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.
Ms. Phiddes deemed it worrisome that her call was not addressed immediately: “As a result of putting his leg down when he lost control of his bicycle, he tragically lost a limb.
She claimed, “I dialed 999, asked for an ambulance, and was put on hold, but they kept telling me to stay on the line if it was an emergency.”
As you are in a state of shock, you want someone to answer the phone since you have no idea what to do.
The guy in his fifties died even though an ambulance arrived immediately after Ms. Phiddes contacted an emergency call operator.
South Western Ambulance Service (SWAST) apologized and stated that delays in its response times have caused around one-third of all 999 calls to be repeated.
Calls from patients or their caregivers who wish to know when a delayed ambulance will come, provide an update on the patient’s condition, or inform us that they no longer require an ambulance. This affects the time at which we answer calls.
“In response, we are recruiting additional phone agents.
We have already expanded the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees from 160 to 195, and we plan to grow the number of call handlers to around 250, despite the extremely competitive job market.
