Ulster Hospital: Woman dies after eight-hour ambulance wait

A review is under way at the South Eastern Health Trust after an elderly woman died after spending eight hours in an ambulance.

The trust told BBC News NI it was "very saddened" by what happened.

It said medical teams "did everything possible to resuscitate the patient" at the Ulster Hospital Emergency Department.

The trust said the woman was cared for by both ambulance and medical teams staff in the ambulance.

However, her condition "deteriorated while she was being treated".

BBC News NI understands that the patient was in the ambulance for about eight hours on Monday night as the emergency department was under immense pressure.

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A spokesperson for the trust confirmed that the department and its teams were under "extreme pressure all day".

"Sustained pressures are being experienced in all of the emergency departments across Northern Ireland, resulting in patients having to wait longer than we would like for admission to hospital," the statement read.

The trust has been in contact with the lady's family and has expressed condolences to them, it said.