Colwyn Bay: Man, 85, had 15-hour ambulance wait after fall

Assistant coroner Kate Sutherland expressed concern lives were still being put at risk by ambulance delays

A pensioner who broke his hip waited almost 15 hours for an ambulance to arrive, an inquest was told.

A senior consultant said 83-year-old Raymond Gillespie, from Colwyn Bay, was so ill that the delay made little or no difference.

But assistant coroner Kate Sutherland expressed concern that lives were still being put at risk by such delays.

She recorded a conclusion of natural death and will also issue a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report.

The PFD report will be sent to the Welsh Ambulance Services Trust (Wast) and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which covers north Wales.

• Emergency waiting times nearly worst ever

"I am aware that a number of PFD reports have been issued but it seems that we are still in the same position," she said.

"Quite simply, it doesn't seem to be getting any better."

Mr Gillespie, 83, who suffered from dementia, was a patient at the Pembroke House Nursing Home in Colwyn Bay, Conwy county, from August 2021 after falling several times at home.

In a statement read at the hearing, his wife Christine said she could no longer care for him. She visited him regularly, but he was distressed and frustrated.

Staff at the care home in Colwyn Bay found Mr Gillespie sitting on the floor after his fall

On the evening of 8 October 2021, former mechanic Mr Gillespie was found sitting on the floor after a fall.

Suspecting he had fractured his femur (thigh bone), staff called 999 at 21:51.

The call was classified as an "Amber 2" call, which meant an ambulance should arrive within four hours but that was extended to six hours.

As time went on, Mr Gillespie was put on a bed and given food and drink.

Gill Pleming, control service manager at Wast, told the inquest the situation was reviewed at intervals.

The call was upgraded and an ambulance eventually arrived the following day at 12:57, just under 15 hours after the initial 999 call.

Mrs Pleming said it had been an extremely busy period across the region, with ambulances being diverted from Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Denbighshire to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.

"There was just nothing available," she said.

Mrs Pleming said that to help tackle the problem more vehicles and staff had been made available but it remained an ongoing issue.

"We are trying the best we can," she added.

• 'Broken system' after worst A&E waiting times

• Wales' 370K unpaid carers need more support - charity

Orthopaedic and trauma consultant Stuart Griffin told the inquest Mr Gillespie, who was suffering from renal failure and had a heart problem, was too unwell to be anaesthetised for surgery.

Mr Griffin praised the Pembroke House staff for their care of Mr Gillespie during the 15-hour wait.

When asked by the coroner whether the ambulance delay had had any impact, he replied: "I think we would have had the same outcome. He was in a sharp downward spiral."

Mr Gillespie was discharged from Ysbyty Gwynedd on 19 October and returned to Pembroke House, where he died four days later.

The coroner accepted the cause of death given by Mr Griffin as "frailty and old age", with macular dementia and chronic renal failure as contributory factors along with the fall itself.

Issuing the PFD report, Ms Sutherland said she was pleased to hear of the steps taken to help tackle the problem of ambulance delays, but added: "This is something, sadly, that we see so often."