Worcester patient died after five-hour wait in ambulance

The patient had been waiting for more than five hours in an ambulance at Worcestershire Royal Hospital

A patient died after waiting more than five hours in the back of an ambulance.

It happened on 4 October at Worcestershire Royal Hospital after their worsening condition concerned paramedics.

The paramedics alerted hospital staff and the patient was rushed to a resuscitation room but went into cardiac arrest shortly afterwards.

The hospital and West Midlands Ambulance Service have launched a joint investigation.

Sources told the BBC the patient arrived at the hospital at about 21:00 and was assessed as being stable.

After five hours, paramedics warned doctors the patient was having difficulty breathing and was pale. Despite doctors' efforts, the patient was not saved.

In a statement on Monday, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and the ambulance service said they were "aware" of a case of a patient dying "shortly after" being taken into A&E on 5 October.

They added: "We have launched a joint investigation into the circumstances.

"While that investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to say anything further at this stage, other than to express our condolences to the patient's family, who are being kept fully informed."

The ambulance service and hospital bosses in Worcestershire have launched a joint investigation

Ambulances are supposed to be able to offload patients within 15 minutes of arrival at hospital.

In September, 622 waited more than an hour to discharge their patients at Worcestershire Royal, according to latest figures.

To ease pressure on A&E there, the trust decided to pilot a scheme in the same month. It saw some patients, including those from Stourport, who otherwise would have gone to the Worcester-based hospital, sent instead to the sister site, Alexandra Hospital, in Redditch.

Previously, bosses decided that patients from Kidderminster should permanently be diverted to Redditch A&E.

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There have been ongoing issues for several years around the emergency department in Worcester.

Health bosses were forced to bring in a doctor in 2015 who is usually on call for major disasters to cope with problems in the under-pressure A&E.

In 2017, then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the hospital was the one he was most worried about after the BBC reported two patients had died waiting on trolleys.

And in the latest ratings, dated February 2020, both A&Es at the Worcestershire Royal and Alexandra Hospital were ruled to be "inadequate" after inspectors found patients on trolleys waiting too long for treatment.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the departments "overwhelmed" and criticised delays in assessing patients arriving by ambulance.