NHS ‘sorry’ after woman dies waiting for ambulance

The NHS has apologised to the family of a mother-of-two who died after waiting 90 minutes for an ambulance.

Julie Hurn, 43, of Oaklands, Old Buckenham, in Norfolk, called 999 on 7 July 2022 after she suffered chest pains and pins and needles in her arms.

Her call was rightly prioritised as Category 2, with an 18-minute response time. But after 90 minutes, she had a heart attack and died despite paramedics attending.

A coroner ruled on Thursday that her death was not due to neglect by the NHS.

After the inquest, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and East of England Ambulance NHS trusts apologised to Mrs Hurn’s family. NNUH chief executive professor Lesley Dwyer said: “We are very sorry she wasn’t able to access the quick emergency response she needed.”

The NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board also said it had fallen short of its aims of high standards of care.

Coroner Yvonne Blake ruled the NHS did not fail in its duty to Mrs Hurn owing to the extreme pressures it was under at the time, having declared a surge black incident – the highest level of pressure on health services.

She heard in evidence that 40 ambulances were delayed at acute hospitals across the county, and there had been 18 unattended Category 2 calls and 13 unanswered Category 3 calls at the time.

Mrs Blake said coroners were disallowed from commenting on levels of resource in their conclusions, but said the East of England Ambulance Trust and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital had initiated their action plans to deal with surge demands.

At Norfolk Coroner’s Court, she dismissed claims of neglect by the NHS from Mrs Hurn’s lawyer and rejected their calls for a deeper investigation into the circumstances of her treatment and death.

In response, Clare Gooch, solicitor for Mrs Hurn’s family, said: “This has been an incredibly painful time for Julie’s family, who are still coming to terms with their loss under such difficult and distressing circumstances.

“Julie was a much loved mother-of-two, a devoted daughter, sister and friend, and her sudden passing has left a deep void to those who know her.”

She said the family had asked for privacy while they digested the evidence and conclusion of the coroner.

Ms Gooch added: “They are particularly saddened by the evidence provided by various experts, which suggests that had Julie received treatment sooner, the outcome could have been very different.

“It is devastating for them to accept that she was left in such pain for so long while waiting for medical help.

“Julie’s family… understands nothing will bring Julie back, but they hope that the attention drawn to her case will highlight the impact the delays of emergency response times have on families like theirs.

“Her family hopes her death will serve as a catalyst for positive change within the health service, particularly in these times of extreme pressure on resources.”

Speaking after the inquest, NNUH’s chief executive professor Dwyer said: “I would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family of Mrs Hurn following their loss.

“Our urgent and emergency services were under severe pressure at the time… and we are very sorry she wasn’t able to access the quick emergency response she needed.

“We have made significant progress in reducing ambulance delays outside our hospital in recent months, which in turn helps to improve 999 response times by freeing up ambulances so crews can get to patients more quickly in the community.”

The East of England Ambulance Service also apologised. A spokesperson said: “This was a tragic incident, and we sincerely apologise to Mrs Hurn’s family for the delay in our response.

“Since then, we have improved our capacity by recruiting additional staff and expanding our ambulance fleet.

“We continue to work with our NHS partners to improve our service to patients.”

The Integrated Care Board said in a statement after the inquest: “This experience falls short of the high standards of care the NHS aims to deliver, and our thoughts remain with Mrs Hurn’s family at this time.

“Since this incident, our health system has improved the patient offload process for ambulances at our local acute hospitals, which allows ambulances to get back on the road quicker to respond to emergency calls in the community.

“This has made a considerable improvement to ambulance response times, especially at peak times.”