David Briggs: Sheffield man died after four-hour wait for ambulance, with service 'not resourced to respond'

A coroner has called for action to be taken after a Sheffield man sadly died following a near four-hour wait for an ambulance.

David Briggs' carers first called for an ambulance on November 14, 2022, at 8.49pm, after becoming concerned that his catheter wasn't draining properly.

The intial call was graded as Category 2, requiring a response within 40 minutes, yet an ambulance did not arrive until 12.44am the next morning - after four further 999 calls as his carers became increasingly concerned.

Carers made five 999 calls as they became increasingly concerned

Mr Briggs was pronounced dead at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital that day at 2.31am.

By the time the final emergency call was made, at 12.27am, he was unresponsive and not breathing.

Carers were advised to start CPR and when the Yorkshire Ambulance Service ambulance arrived 17 minutes later he was transferred to the Northern General following initial treatment.

Hannah Berry, assistant coroner for South Yorkshire, has now written to health chiefs saying action needs to be taken to prevent future deaths.

In a report sent to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, she flagged concerns about the long wait for an ambulance.

She wrote that Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) 'were not resourced to respond to the number of emergency calls'.

Delay in offloading patients at hospitals

She also stated: "There was a significant delay in offloading patients at hospitals which tied up ambulance resource and meant they were unable to respond to emergency calls."

The coroner concluded: "In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action." The first 999 call that evening was routed to YAS, with the second answered by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and passed to YAS.

The third call, made at 999 with Mr Briggs struggling to breathe in between talking, was answered by YAS.

A fourth 999 call, at 11.39pm, was answered by EMAS and incorrectly coded as Category 2, instead of Category 1, before being passed to YAS.

When the final call was made, at 12.27am, this was coded as Category 1.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service apologises for delayed response

Mr Briggs had spina bifida with paralysis from the waist downwards. He had a long term catheter and colostomy, and was in supported living where he relied heavily on carers for everyday living.

An inquest, which concluded on November 30 this year, found that he had died from an infection resulting from catheterisation.

Responding to the report, a spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service said: "First and foremost, we would like to express our sincere condolences to David Briggs' family following his death in November 2022 and are very sorry that operational pressures delayed our response to him.

"The Trust contributed fully to the Coroner’s inquest and has acknowledged the concerns raised. Our thoughts remain with David Briggs' family."

East Midlands Ambulance Service 'deeply sorry'

Gary Lockley, head of emergency operations Centres at East Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Mr Briggs and my thoughts are with them all at this very difficult time.

"We are deeply sorry for the level of response which was provided to Mr Briggs, which I recognise fell below the standard of care that patients should expect from our service.

"A serious incident investigation, carried out by Yorkshire Ambulance Service into their delayed response, allowed us to identify and address the opportunities which were missed in order to provide Mr Briggs with the emergency response he needed.

"We recognise that this comes too late for Mr Briggs and his family, and for this we are sorry."

Department of Health and Social Care response

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Patients deserve access to urgent and emergency care as quickly as possible, and our sympathies are with Mr Briggs and his family.

"We have prepared for winter earlier than ever before and we are making good progress in cutting both A&E waits and ambulance response times.

"Compared to the same time last year, ambulance handover delays have fallen by 28%, thousands more 111 calls are being answered within 60 seconds, and there were nearly 1,400 more hospital beds available.

"We know there is more to do and that’s why we’re working to get 800 new ambulances on the road and create 5,000 extra permanent hospital beds, on top of 10,000 hospital at home beds already rolled out, to free up hospital capacity and cut waiting times."

Dr David Crichton, Chief Medical Officer at NHS South Yorkshire, said: "Our thoughts and condolences are with David’s family. We acknowledge the findings of the coroner’s inquest and the Regulation 28 report. We will review the circumstances of the events that led up to his death and the actions required to prevent future deaths."