A wife was left to give her dying husband CPR in the back of an ambulance after a 999 medic could not do it. Now ambulance chiefs have been ordered to apologise to the patient’s grieving widow after Scotland’s health watchdog upheld her complaint.
Last night, Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said it was “an absolutely shocking and distressing case”. She continued: “The time taken to convey this person to hospital may have cost them their life and urgent steps need to be taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
The widow, who has not been identified, called for an ambulance after her husband took ill at home but it took a long time to arrive.
In her complaint to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman she told how she was asked to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her husband in the back of the ambulance. But the ambulance technician offered her no assistance.
She had to perform CPR alone until the ambulance arrived at the hospital. It is unclear whether the ambulance technician did not have the skills to perform CPR or whether there was another reason for the decision.
The widow had complained to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) but was dissatisfied with the way the complaint had been investigated.
She took her complaint to the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman – who backed her complaint, ordered the SAS to apologise and recommended changes to how they handle complaints.
In their judgement the SPSO said: “It should have been clear to the ambulance crew that A (the patient) was seriously unwell and that the time spent on scene was unreasonable and that the decision to ask C (the patient’s wife) to perform CPR... was not reasonable.
“We found that the initial investigation was not sufficient, although we acknowledged the proactive steps taken by SAS to address this issue and acknowledge failings, including asking C to commence CPR.
“We also found that in this case the full crew should have been interviewed. We upheld C’s complaints.”
The ombudsman asked the SAS to apologise to the widow for the failings – including “the length of time taken to assess A in their home and the delay in transporting A to hospital, the failure to follow clinical guidelines appropriately and the failure to handle C’s complaint appropriately”. The ombudsman also recommended:
● For patients suffering cardiac arrest out of hospital relevant clinical guidelines should be followed by ambulance crew.
● Ambulance crew should accurately record what treatment was performed to demonstrate adherence to the clinical guidelines.
The SPSO asked the SAS to provide evidence they have implemented the recommendations.
Last night, an SAS spokesman said: “This is a tragic case and we have apologised to the family of the patient privately and in person. We note the SPSO’s final decision and we will implement their recommendations.”
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