'Lives at risk' over Betsi Cadwaladr health board inaction

Health board leaders said they would implement changes by 1 October, this has now been pushed back to Christmas

A coroner has said "lives are being put at risk" by a health board delaying changes to diagnosis procedures.

John Gittens was speaking at an inquest into the death of Kyle Hurst, 29, from Flint, who died at Glan Clwyd Hospital after taking a paracetamol overdose.

Mr Gittins, chief coroner for North Wales East and Central, said changes to prevent these deaths had not been made.

Mr Hurst died of multi- organ failure and the coroner recorded a conclusion of suicide.

"Time and time again I am left more than frustrated by their inability to act on what I am being told," Mr Gittens told the hearing.

In July, Mr Gittins issued a report on preventing future deaths to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board after another woman died after taking a high level of paracetamol.

At that time he was told by Gill Harris, the board's executive director of nursing, that new procedures to speed up the diagnosis and communicating of life-threatening blood results would be in place by 1 October.

But at Friday's inquest he was told by Dr Tom O'Driscoll, a consultant in emergency medicine, that it was now hoped they would be implemented by Christmas, after receiving formal approval.

Dr O'Driscoll said although it was already possible for an antidote for a drugs overdose to be administered based on a suspected overdose, it had not yet been adopted by the health board.

"There are lives being put at risk by this health board not implementing what they said they would do in a timely manner," said Mr Gittens.

"The staff on the ground do everything they possibly can to the best of their abilities in unbelievably difficult circumstances but the support is sometimes lacking at managerial level.

"That is not good enough and that is no reflection on the work of the clinical staff."

Kyle Hurst had to wait three hours in the ambulance outside Glan Clwyd Hospital

The inquest heard that Mr Hurst was found in a car near Flint Mountain on 24 January.

He told ambulance crew that he had taken an overdose of paracetamol, as well as dihydrocodeine and morphine.

The ambulance had to queue outside Glan Clwyd Hospital for about three hours, but triage nurse Rosalind Goodall said Mr Hurst's observations were normal.

• Ambulance delays costing crews thousands of hours

When he was admitted, he vomited and his condition deteriorated before he died later that day.

Dr O'Driscoll said he would have preferred the antidote had been given on the basis that he had taken such a large overdose, instead of waiting for the test results.

But, he added, the level of toxicity was so high it might not have made a difference.