Mrs N explained that she and her family made numerous calls to 999 and the 111 service on behalf of her father, Mr L, throughout 1 January 2023. Mrs N complained that they were advised that the waiting time for an ambulance to attend was 6 8 hours. She said that Mr L’s care should have been prioritised sooner and that it was only when he stopped breathing that an ambulance was sent. By that time, Mrs N and her brother had been forced to start CPR. Sadly, Mr L could not be revived.
The Ombudsman found that the Trust’s response did not fully address the question of whether the care it provided was clinically appropriate. It had not clarified whether it believed that all the calls made to 999 and 111 were dealt with appropriately, particularly in light of some apparent contradictions in the documented information about Mr L’s clinical condition.
The Trust agreed to provide a further response to Mrs N, clarifying whether an ambulance was correctly allocated at the first appropriate opportunity and whether it considered that the calls were all handled and categorised appropriately. The Trust agreed to do this within one month of the date of the Ombudsman’s decision.