An ambulance trust has said it is “deeply sorry” after a patient declared dead later woke up in hospital.
North East ambulance service (NEAS) apologised and said it had contacted the unnamed person’s family. An investigation has been launched into the error, which took place on Friday.
Durham police said on Monday that the individual, a woman in her 50s, had now died. They said it was “unexpected” and that postmortem tests would be carried out.
As first reported in the Northern Echo, the patient was declared dead after an incident last Friday. The individual was taken by paramedics to Darlington Memorial hospital, where they later woke up.
In a statement, Andrew Hodge, the director of paramedicine at NEAS, said: “As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we opened an investigation and contacted the patient’s family.
“We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused them. A full review of this incident is being undertaken and we are unable to comment any further at this stage.
“The colleagues involved are being supported appropriately and we will not be commenting further about any individuals at this point.”
NEAS last year apologised to bereaved relatives after it was found to have covered up mistakes by paramedics responding to patients who later died.
The chief executive of NEAS offered her “unreserved apologies” for “historic failings” after whistleblowers told the Sunday Times that managers filtered out inconvenient facts from incident reports before they were sent to the coroner, in order to present paramedics in a more flattering light.
A review published in July by Dame Marianne Griffiths paid tribute to the families who shared their experiences and said: “It is clear that they are not only devastated by the loss of their loved ones, but also by the ambulance service’s response to the legitimate questions about their care.”
The report identified “significant cultural and behavioural issues” at NEAS and said: “Leadership dysfunction was allowed to continue for far too long and this had a major impact on how teams within different directorates operated. A defensiveness grew and affected team operations, transparency, candour and judgment. They also clearly impacted the health and wellbeing of staff.”
Griffiths also said she believed that the new leadership team in place was committed to addressing issues.
