A man who died after swallowing bleach tablets waited 3 hours for ambulance

A care home resident who died after eating bleach tablets that looked like mints waited more than three hours for an ambulance to take him to hospital, an inquest has heard.

Diabetic dementia patient Joe Serginson, 85, grabbed a tub from a cleaners' trolley and swallowed the dissoluble disinfectant as staff dealt with a mess.

A senior carer told the inquest how she screamed and forced her fingers into his mouth to try to retrieve the chlorine tablets before dialling 999.

The incident happened at about 2pm on August 1 last year.

Staff called five times for an ambulance and a series of crews were tasked to attend Balmoral Court home in Byker, Newcastle, but were diverted to other cases.

It was only at 5.12pm, after the fifth call to the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), that a crew attended and he was taken to the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary, arriving just before 6pm.

Medics decided the prognosis was too bad for Mr Serginson to recover from the effects of the corrosive chemical and he was kept comfortable in hospital before he died on August 4.

Pathologist Peter Cooper carried out a post-mortem examination and concluded Mr Serginson died from respiratory failure having ingested chlorine tablets.

Newcastle assistant coroner Karin Welsh was told how the ambulance service had reached the stage of clinical escalation'' earlier that day, meaning there were too many jobs for the crews available.

NEAS complaints investigator Ruth Jackson told the hearing the situation happened on a daily basis and that it was to be addressed by more staff being recruited.

Cleaner Jamie Forbes said she had got her trolley out of a locked cupboard to tidy a mess in a corridor and the tub of chlorine tablets was on its top shelf.

They were round and white, and looked like extra strong mints, she said.

There were about 16 male residents staying on the top floor of the home, the inquest heard, and staff knew to keep an eye on Mr Serginson, who would go into other people's rooms to pinch chocolates despite his diabetes.

Senior carer Jennifer Bolam said she was cleaning mess from a dado rail when she spotted him with the tub.

It was so fast, he had put his hand in the jar, grabbed the tablets and put them in his mouth,'' she said.I screamed 'Joe' and grabbed hold of him.

He was chewing so fast, that's what made me think I have to put my hand into his mouth to get them out.''

She said other staff members raced to the scene to help after she screamed.

Mrs Bolam said they were advised to give Mr Serginson nil by mouth when they made the 999 call.

The staff member said colleagues discussed the case afterwards and all expressed surprise he could have removed the lid of the tub.

She said Mr Serginson would often say he was hungry and would pick up items and try to eat them.

A specialist in acute medicine said the delay in the ambulance attending did not make any difference to Mr Serginson's chances of survival.

He would have aspirated matter into his lungs very shortly after eating the tablets and once that started there was little to be done for a frail patient, Dr Christopher Gibbons said.

But he said it could have made a difference to someone fitter than the pensioner

The inquest continues