Fall from bed killed man, not 999 delay - coroner

George Howell died after falling from bed as he reached for a drink

A 78-year-old man waited more than 12 hours for an ambulance after fracturing his spine before later dying in hospital, an inquest has heard.

George Howell, of Rhyl, Denbighshire, died a day after falling out of bed in the middle of the night while reaching for a drink of water on 1 August 2022.

But a cardiologist who treated him told the inquest in Ruthin there was no guarantee he could have survived the fall, even if he had received hospital treatment sooner.

Coroner Kate Robertson recorded a narrative conclusion and said his cause of death was due to falling out of bed.

The inquest heard that he spent 12 hours lying on the floor before a paramedic arrived to assess him, followed by a further two hours before an ambulance got to his home.

A statement from his daughter Valerie Tromans said he was screaming in pain, unable to get off the floor.

When he arrived at the hospital, he waited a further six hours in an ambulance before he could be admitted to A&E.

Gill Pleming of the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust said the original 999 call at 03:44 was classed as an emergency, but not life threatening.

She said this was then upgraded to life threatening at 11:25, but there were about 20 other life-threatening calls waiting before Mr Howell.

This, couple with long delays handing ambulance patients over at hospital meant "our ambulances weren’t able to get to patients," she added.

Mr Howell also had heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and his fall led to those conditions getting worse and his subsequent death in hospital.

Dr Eduardas Subkovas, a cardiologist who treated Mr Howell at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd said: "Conditions which were stable for years, due to a fall, can get out of hand and deteriorate rapidly.

"If he had arrived in hospital earlier, with more time, we might have been able to treat him more aggressively.

"But the possibility of him surviving was quite low – all the signs we know now indicate his health was poor."

Mr Howell had to wait a further six hours in the ambulance before being admitted to A&E

Coroner Ms Robertson said: "George Howell died as a result of a fall out of bed.

"But the time spent on the floor waiting for an ambulance meant that he was deprived of an opportunity for further investigation."

She said she had already asked the ambulance service, health board and councils in north Wales how they were cutting waiting times for ambulances.

Ms Robertson said she would wait to receive a response before deciding whether to take further action following Mr Howell’s death.