Norfolk coroner urges health secretary to prevent future deaths due to NHS crisis

A Norfolk coroner's warned the health secretary more people could die if problems with ambulance delays and crowded hospitals aren't resolved.

It comes after an inquest found a 61 year old woman in the county died after waiting over four hours in the back of an ambulance as there was no room in the hospital.

Lyn Brind had suffered a heart attack in May last year, but died in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, half an hour after she was transferred inside.

Senior coroner, Jacqueline Lake, concluded Lyn's "condition was not diagnosed nor treated in a timely fashion".

The coroner has now completed a prevention of future deaths report, in which she tells Health Secretary Steve Barclay that action must be taken to prevent future deaths.

Key findings in the report

Key findings in the report include:

• "Mrs Brind was not assessed by a Senior Doctor from the Hospital within an hour, in accordance with Hospital protocol."
• "Evidence was heard that there are regularly too many patients in the Emergency Department and so ambulances cannot safely transfer patients into the Emergency Department."
• "The Hospital is unable to discharge patients who are medically fit to be discharged and they remain occupying much needed beds. This in turn means patients cannot be moved from the Emergency Department into the hospital wards, and patients remain waiting in ambulances."
• "At the time of Mrs Brind’s death, approximately 7 ambulances were waiting to transfer patients into the Emergency Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital. At the time of the inquest, this had risen to 17 ambulances commonly waiting to transfer patients from the ambulance into the Emergency Department."
• "At the time of the inquest there were approximately 140 beds at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital occupied by patients who were medically fit to be discharged, but beds could not be found in the community."

What now?

Ms Lake concluded she was satisfied that steps have been taken by both EEAST and the Hospital in respect of the above matters and that she wouldn't be making a report them.

Separately, the Health Secretary now has to respond to the report within 56 days, by March 13, 2023.

The Department of Health and Social Care has said it's taking urgent action to reduce waiting times and prevent future deaths.

Today, the government's unveiled a two-year, 1 billion-pound plan to ease pressure facing the NHS.

Thousands of hospital beds and a fleet of new ambulances are being promised to "fix" emergency care in England.

The money - which will also aim to tackle long waiting times - was set aside in the Autumn.

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