AN ELDERLY woman died after being left in agony on the freezing floor of a GP car park for more than two hours after falling over.
Josephine Ellis, 76, had just attended an appointment at a mobile clinic adjacent to the Hoveton and Wroxham Medical Centre near Norwich, Norfolk, when she lost her balance while walking to her car.
An inquest into her death was told that no blankets were brought out for her by staff as she waited for an ambulance, despite the fact it was a cold October day.
When paramedics eventually arrived and took her to hospital, they discovered she had broken her hip, reports EDP.
Once admitted, her condition worsened and she tragically died three days later.
At the inquest into her death, Josephine’s family raised concerns over the care she had received – prompting the hearing to be adjourned so that coroner Jacqueline Lake could further investigate the case.
Prior to this suspension of the case, the court had heard about the tragic accident.
It saw Josephine, a retired soldering technician, and her daughter leave a hearing appointment at the medical centre shortly before 2pm on October 23.
The widow lost her balance and footing after turning quickly, sending her tumbling to the cold car park floor.
Josephine quickly realised she had seriously hurt herself and was left in agony as she lay on the tarmac.
Her daughter, who is a healthcare assistant, then dialled 999 at around 2.20pm as she was unable to move the pensioner.
However, by 4pm, Josephine, who had been a dedicated fundraiser for veterans’ organisations for much of her life, was still lying on the car park floor in excruciating pain.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”NHS patients lined up in A&E corridor” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6367882729112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Her daughter explained at the inquest that although she was near a GP surgery, no blankets, or any other ways to keep Josephine warm, were provided.
She also said that a doctor had tried multiple times to try and lift Josephine – but since he did so without “adequate support”, Josephine was put through “additional pain and distress”.
However, her daughter also said that staff at the centre tired to reassure Josephine, with some offering their coats – one of these was used to prop up her leg.
Josephine was eventually taken by ambulance to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where an x-ray confirmed she had suffered a broken hip.
Despite undergoing surgery on October 25, the widow tragically never fully recovered, and died the following day.
Chris Hewitson, a patient safety specialist officer at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust, explained the different categorisations of 999 call in a statement to the court.
He said that category 2 calls (CAT 2) require an emergency crew response within 40 minutes – these calls have an average response time of around 18 minutes.
Typically, these are done for patients who are unconscious, experiencing chest pain, or have stroke symptoms.
Category three coded calls (CAT 3), however, have a response time of two hours – this is typically used for people who have fallen.
During the initial call, the coding was correct (CAT 3), the court heard, and this was later upgraded to CAT 2 shortly after 3pm, following an additional call made by an ambulance service clinician.
At 3.23pm, a second 999 call was received which said that Josephine’s condition had deteriorated.
However, instead of re-triaging, the call handler treated the call as a query on the arrival time of the ambulance.
TRUST UNDER ‘SIGNIFICANT PRESSURE’
Hewitson admitted the triage should have been undertaken as Josephine’s condition worsened.
He said: “We would like to apologise for this omission and feedback had been provided to the call handler.”
However, Hewitson explained that the category of response would not have changed even with the re-triage, as Josephine was not unconscious.
He added that the trust was under “significant pressure” at the time and was facing challenges with the sheer volume of 999 calls it was receiving, as well as had issues with releasing ambulances back into the community from hospitals.
Hewitson continued: “I appreciate this will offer very little comfort to Mrs Ellis’ family.”
The trust has undergone changes following Josephine’s tragic death, including the recruitment of additional staff and implementation of care co-ordination hubs.
It has also increased the number of hours its community first responder volunteers are available for.
Josephine’s family also raised a number of concerns about her care while at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
The inquest will be reopened at a later date which will hear evidence related to her treatment while she was in hospital.
