Warwickshire mother calls for action on ambulance delays after son dies

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Warwickshire mother calls for action on ambulance delays after son dies

Postby dutchman » Mon May 23, 2022 11:05 pm

A mother has called for ambulance response times to be improved after her son died from a cardiac arrest

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Jamie Rees, 18, from Rugby, in Warwickshire, was left waiting more than 17 minutes for an ambulance on New Year's Day.

"We have been told it was due to a sudden change in the rhythm of Jamie's heartbeat," said Naomi Rees-Issitt.

West Midlands Ambulance service (WMAS) said it had sent the nearest available ambulance.

Jamie had returned home from watching fireworks with his friends when he suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest.

The ambulance service says it has targets to reach all cardiac arrest patients in seven minutes, and 90% of them should be reached within 15 minutes.

The crew reached Jamie 17 minutes and 33 seconds after the first call.

"He didn't deserve for this to happen," Ms Rees-Issitt said.

"I can't imagine how soul-destroying it is for that ambulance crew who reached Jamie after 17 minutes, knowing they were never going to save him."

WMAS said in the hour before it had received the first 999 call to Jamie, there had been five other emergency calls in the Rugby area, which would have meant any ambulances based in the town would already have been with a patient.

The service has provided the family with a timeline of events and sent a copy of the patient report form.

It added a further investigation report would also be provided.

"Our thoughts remain firstly with Jamie's family as they come to terms with what has happened," it said.

"Long hospital handover delays impact our ability to get to patients quickly, which is why all NHS partners are working together to reduce them."

The 18-year-old, who was training as a plumber, signed up to the organ donor register aged 16. Five of his organs were donated following his death.

The family has also set up an online fundraising page to pay for a defibrillator in his memory.

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Re: Warwickshire mother calls for action on ambulance delays after son dies

Postby dutchman » Fri Mar 31, 2023 10:37 pm

Bereaved mum says she feels 'failed' by Coventry hospital after death of beloved son

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A bereaved mum has said she feels "failed" by Coventry University Hospital whose representatives, she claimed, "couldn't be bothered to meet face-to-face" following the death of her son. Naomi Rees-Issitt, 43, lost her son Jamie Rees, 18, on January 5 last year following him going into cardiac arrest at a friend's house on New Year's Eve.

Jamie, who had been watching fireworks that evening, suffered from oxygen starvation to his brain after waiting over 17 minutes for an ambulance. Although a police officer arrived on the scene first, he did not have access to a defibrillator and the nearest machine at Ashlawn School, two minutes from where Jamie collapsed, was locked inside the building.

Ms Rees spoke at the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) board meeting on Wednesday where she has presented several times since establishing OurJay, and praised the service for its ongoing support. Ms Rees said this contrasted with what she claimed was a lack of care shown by the Coventry hospital which she had contacted following the outcome of the patient investigation into Jamie's death.

A key point showed the time taken to handover patient care from the ambulance service to the hospital was partly to blame for the fatality. Ms Rees told the LDRS: "The ambulance service basically had its hands tied because even though they're the frontline staff and they have ambulances sitting outside hospital, the main reason for that is because they can't transfer the patient into the A&E department."

She said the family contacted the hospital because they wanted their take on the situation and more information about what leads to delays, but claimed they didn't hear back until over a year after Jamie's death. The hospital invited Ms Rees and the Foundation to a Microsoft Teams meeting where two representatives offered them the opportunity to come in and meet staff, she added.

However, Ms Rees said the family didn't hear back and after Ms Rees's local councillor contacted the hospital on her behalf, they were merely offered another Teams meeting. Ms Rees said: "Well, you know, it's all very well having the Teams calls, but how are we ever going to make any changes if people can't even take the time out of their day to meet with the family of somebody like Jamie face-to-face with all the work we try to do to help out in the NHS?

"But yeah, we feel a little bit failed by that point. I think that's why I mentioned it because we have been so well supported by West Midlands Ambulance.

"Even though they've apologised and admitted to the failure, we just find it shocking that they are the only organisation that has stepped up and made that apology whereas University Hospital Coventry can't even really be bothered to meet face-to-face."

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