Geoffrey Fuller

Significant handover delays
1.   The court noted that the NHS national target is for ambulances to handover patients to hospital is within 15 minutes of arrival. 
2.   The total ambulance delay on 7 July 2025 for Mr Fuller was approximately 13 hours, involving delays in both response and handover. 
3.   The delay in ambulance response was 10 hours and 12 minutes, during which time Mr Fuller was in pain and unable to move due to a dislocated hip. 
4.   On arrival at Royal Cornwall Hospital (RCHT), Mr Fuller spent a further 2 hours and 52 minutes before being handed over to the emergency department. 
5.   On 7 July 2025, at RCHT, the average handover time was two hours, 24 minutes with over 211 hours of ambulance availability lost to these handover delays. This is the equivalent of approximately 19 double crewed ambulance (DCA) shifts lost  to delays (based on a standard 11-hour shift).   
6.   Data for the two months before Mr Fuller’s death reveals average handover delays at RCHT of 1 hour and 26 minutes for May 2025, and 1 hour and 27 minutes for  June 2025 (beyond the 15 minute target).  
7.   Recent data indicates the picture has not improved. Significant average handover  delays at RCHT were recorded for every month of 2026 to date (beyond the target  15 minutes). The data for May 2026 indicates an average handover delay of 1 hour and 22 minutes beyond the 15-minute target. 
8.   The day before this Inquest, 7 June 2026, SWAST recorded average handover  delays at RCHT of 1 hour and 10 minutes. 
9.   These handover delays lead to the unavailability of ambulances to respond to emergency calls.  Furthermore, the average handover delays conceal spikes such  as that which led to the long delay in this case. Such long delays increase the risk  of mortality. 
10. The court heard evidence of a new policy being implemented by SWAST to try and reduce ambulance resources being tied down in lengthy waits at hospital. After a  90-minute handover delay the ambulance paramedics will provide notice to ED that a patient is being left on a trolley in a corridor with fluids and medications if required so long as that patient is stable. This has led to significant crowding in  RCHT emergency department (ED). 

Emergency department crowding
1.   On the day of Mr Fuller’s ambulance delay, RCHT ED was accommodating 105 patients. ED has a capacity of 42 patients.  ED accommodated the surplus patients on trolleys in corridors, seated within the waiting room or remaining inside ambulances in the parking area outside ED.  
2.   The situation had not improved as at the date of this Inquest.  
3.   EDs have a national target for 95% of patients to be admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours.  It was noted that there is a recent major study which  shows that the standardised mortality rate starts to rise from 5 hours after the  patient’s time of arrival at the ED and they concluded that after 6–8 hours, there is one extra death for every 82 patients delayed. This increased mortality is partly  attributed to the fact that patients in ED are not receiving the surgery or specialist  care that is available on the wards. 
4.   Data indicates that RCHT have been failing to meet the 4-hour target for a  significant number of patients. For the opening months of 2026 approximately 50% of patients have still been in ED after 4 hours. 
5.   RCHT witnesses reported that over the last few weeks the ED has been regularlyrequired to accommodate over 100 patients (in a unit with a capacity for 42  patients). This has involved significant numbers of patients still in ED after 12 hours, some still in ED after 24 hours. 

Insufficient social care provision
1.   The court found there was insufficient bed availability on acute wards which was  attributable to significant numbers of patients in hospital with no reason to reside (NCTR), these being patients who are medically optimised but cannot be  discharged due to lack of onward care support.  
2.   On the day of the ambulance delay, 7 July 2025, almost 20% of patients in RCHT were recorded as NCTR. 
3.   The court noted the main cause for the numbers of NCTR patients was insufficient social care provision, whether commissioned by social services or NHS.  4.   Investigations in 2022 and 2023 by SWAST and the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found a direct link between ambulance delays and  inadequate social care provision.  The court noted the SWAST systems report  which found…  ‘’….there is a direct link between patients waiting in the hospital for  discharge to social care and patients being cared for inside ambulances  and Emergency Departments.’’ 
5.    This court has previously noted data indicating significant vacancies in social care  posts in Cornwall are vacant reflecting the national picture of nationwide vacant  direct social care posts.  [see previous PFD reports on this subject] 
6.   The court noted that the NHS does not carry responsibility for the recruitment and retention of social care staff or any broad obligation to promote the social care  market.  
7.   The HSSIB report referred to the fact that the organisations immediately required to deal with ambulance delays are ambulance trusts and acute hospitals, In  Cornwall that is SWAST and RCHT. These organisations do not have control over  the services primarily responsible for ambulance delays, namely social care  provision and support.  They are unable to influence the whole-system and  therefore carry risks that they cannot wholly mitigate or manage.  
8.   The court noted the HSSIB report which states that delayed discharges (and  consequent ambulance delays) are a national issue which is attributed to a whole system failure of health and social care. The court noted the HSSIB investigation’s  first safety recommendation is an urgent ‘whole system’ response to reduce patient harm.