Mark Isherwood
North Wale Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to respond to the North East Wales Coroner’s comments over Fred Pring’s tragic death.
Coroner John Gittins said on Monday that Mr Pring, of Mynydd Isa, Flintshire, who died while waiting more than 40 minutes for an ambulance, would probably have survived if it had arrived within its eight-minute target time.
Speaking in the Assembly, Mr Isherwood called for a Welsh Government Statement on ambulance and hospital emergency department services in North Wales following the Coroner’s comments.
Mr Isherwood said: “The Chief Executive of the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board have said that they have made a number of improvements since the tragic death from heart failure of Mr Pring from Mynydd Isa, Flintshire in March 2013, while waiting 48 minutes for ambulances to arrive, after his wife called for them.
“However, the Coroner for North Wales East and Central said only yesterday that unacceptable ambulance delays led to Mr Pring’s death, and that he intends to make reports to the Ambulance Trust and to the Health Board advising them of his concerns, and that, unless action is taken, circumstances creating a risk of other deaths will continue to exist. That was stated only yesterday. I would be grateful if you could comment on that, bearing in mind the two Wales Audit Office reports—the first found that the NHS in Wales was the only one of the four UK nations to have suffered a real-term cut in funding, and the second report, produced jointly with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, found major corporate governance failings at Betsi Cadwaladr, something that our casework had been warning us of for many years.”
The Minister for Local Government and Government Business, Lesley Griffith, replied: “We are very aware of this tragic incident. The Wales Ambulance Services NHS Trust has submitted a summary of its investigation findings, and action that it has identified that requires to be taken on issues addressed by that investigation. For instance, there is going to be the ongoing implementation of the north Wales unscheduled care integrated action plan. It confirms that the ambulance trust and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board are working together to address the issues that have arisen from hospital handover delays.”
