Trust chief apologises after patient dies in ambulance while waiting outside hospital which had 'no beds available'

A hospital boss has apologised after an elderly patient died in the back of an ambulance outside a Greater Manchester hospital.

The elderly patient was taken to Fairfield General Hospital in Bury by emergency service staff with a serious chest infection on the morning of Tuesday, October 18. The patient was triaged and examined by doctors, and antibiotic treatment began, all in the back of the ambulance due to the scarce space inside the rammed emergency department.

But after waiting outside as no beds were available, the patient then deteriorated after the medication, the Manchester Evening News understands. The patient died after suffering a cardiac arrest while still in the back of the ambulance some three hours after arriving at hospital.