An elderly patient died in the back of an ambulance outside a Greater Manchester hospital as there were no beds available inside, the Manchester Evening News understands. The patient had arrived at Fairfield General Hospital and antibiotic treatment was started by hospital staff who came out from inside the hospital, before the patient went into cardiac arrest, NHS sources said.
The death on Tuesday, October 18, follows paramedics across the country raising concerns that ambulances are ‘being treated as extra wards’ as the scarcity of beds inside hospitals reaches crisis point. An investigation has now been launched by North West Ambulance Service in response to the death.
In Greater Manchester, patients are regularly being held in ambulances for hours as they wait for a rare bed inside, according to North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) paramedics.
