A fit and healthy and “loved” 49-year-old father died after having a cardiac arrest following a trip to the shops. The family of Paul Furness, who lived in Ystrad Mynach with his wife and their 14-year-old daughter, say they believe had an ambulance reached Paul sooner on the night then he might have survived.
Paul, a chef, was off work on June 6 last year when he got back to the house after popping to the shops. He quickly became short of breath and started to feel tight pains in his chest accompanied by a shooting pain down his left arm, his mother Elaine told WalesOnline.
Recognising the symptoms as a possible heart attack Paul’s daughter initially phoned the ambulance service before phoning Elaine who drove to the house from her home in Cardiff. “I immediately felt when I reached the house that Paul was having a heart attack,” Elaine said. “I called the ambulance service again and they informed me they were aware of the seriousness of the call and on their log the call had been marked as: ‘Amber one.’” Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter.
The Welsh Ambulance Service uses a system called a medical prioritisation dispatch system to prioritise its response to emergency calls. The system uses an algorithm to determine the most appropriate response based on a patient’s condition and symptoms. Red means immediately life-threatening and amber one means life-threatening, according to the Welsh Ambulance Service website. An amber one call is extremely serious and has a target ambulance arrival time of “as soon as possible” whereas a red call has a target of eight minutes.
But Elaine said when no ambulance had turned up at the house while her son’s condition was worsening she phoned the ambulance service back and claims she was told it could be “up to three hours” before an ambulance reached them. She then decided to stand the ambulance down and travel to the nearest hospital, which was Ystrad Mynach minor injuries unit, herself with her son.
“The closest hospital was Ystrad Mynach minor injuries unit which I know doesn’t have a cardiac unit but it was the nearest and I knew we needed to get somewhere quickly,” Elaine said. “Fair play to the nurses at the unit – they came straight out and helped Paul in. They tried their best and they were brilliant.
Paul Furness had had a heart attack and later went into cardiac arrest, an autopsy confirmed
(Image: Elaine Furness)
“After scans and blood tests they confirmed Paul was having a heart attack and said they were going to get him up to the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran to see a cardiac specialist. I waited with Paul until 11.45pm and I went outside to make a call and by the time I came back in they told me he had gone into cardiac arrest. Shortly after midnight he passed away.” By that time an ambulance which the minor injuries unit called for had arrived.
Elaine said she had read about issues facing the ambulance service but could not believe no ambulance reached them initially at Paul’s home given the seriousness of his condition. She said: “The Grange Hospital rang me a few days later to tell me it was a heart attack which killed Paul and it was an aneurysm and an aortic rupture.”
Paul’s mother Elaine said he had lived a healthy and normal life
(Image: Elaine Furness)
In a letter seen by WalesOnline the ambulance service say they registered a call from Elaine at 7.29pm on the night of June 6 last year. A response unit was automatically allocated to the call at 7.32pm. The ambulance service say in their letter to Elaine that because she informed the ambulance service her son was conscious and breathing the response unit was stood down and the call was prioritised as an “amber one” call. The ambulance service say a further call was made by Elaine at 8.28pm and at 8.34pm Elaine decided to cancel the request for an ambulance and take her son herself. The ambulance service say they had no correspondence with Elaine on the day Paul died until 6.45pm.
Elaine said: “I know these things happen and people do die from these things but people also survive and I can’t help feeling something could have been done for Paul. If an ambulance had come within an hour maybe he might still be with us. Or maybe they could have advised he be taken to the Grange where they deal with these things more appropriately at their cardiac unit.”
The latest available data from the Welsh Ambulance Service showed in November it had its second busiest month on record for life-threatening emergency calls. Figures show 50.4% of crews arrived within eight minutes to “red” calls – an improvement on the previous month. The average response time was seven minutes and 56 seconds.
The service is continuing to face the problem of thousands of hours spent outside A&E units waiting to handover patients. Latest figures show about 22,000 “lost” hours waiting to handover patients at major emergency departments. Elaine added: “I want to make people aware of what happened to warn people about what can happen when you ring for an ambulance even when it’s so serious.”
Paying tribute to her son Elaine said: “He was healthy, he lived a normal life and worked hard. He was a loved son, father, and partner too. As a family we have been left devastated by his passing.”
Liam Williams, executive director of quality and nursing at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We sincerely apologise to the family of Mr Furness and our thoughts and sympathies remain with them through what has been, and continues to be, an extremely difficult time. Unfortunately the wait Mr Furness experienced reflects the sustained and well-documented pressures across the entire NHS in Wales.
“We are working with our NHS partners to try and alleviate these pressures and are also thinking very differently about the way we deliver services in future. We have begun testing some new ways of working to identify how we might relieve some of the pressure and better respond to cases such as this in the future. We have been liaising directly with Mr Furness’ family and our invitation to meet with us in person remains should they have any outstanding questions.”