St John Ambulance admits failings over Alan Hamilton death

A supervisor from St John Ambulance and Rescue Service resigned following Alan Hamilton's death

An ambulance service has admitted failing to follow good practice following the death of a man whose 999 call was cut short.

Groundsman Alan Hamilton, 65, called 999 but no ambulance was sent and he was found dead the next morning.

St John Ambulance on Guernsey apologised to Mr Hamilton's family and said a supervisor had resigned.

An inquest on Tuesday heard Mr Hamilton died from heart disease, cardiac arrest and complications with diabetes.

Mr Hamilton, originally from Northamptonshire, called 999 from the KGV playing fields, where he worked for Guernsey Cricket Association, on 9 July last year.

Jon Beausire, chief officer of St John Ambulance, said the emergency call was quickly disconnected before the operator could get a full picture of the situation.

He said "well-established working practices" set up to deal with such a situation "were not followed from a supervisory perspective".

Mr Beausire said: "While the operator tried to call back several times, no ambulance was sent to KGV and neither were the police asked for assistance - as is our standard practice in cases of this nature."