https://www.theguardian.com/society...g-on-street-for-six-hours-for-ambulance-wales
Woman dies in Welsh hospital after six-hour wait for ambulance
Donna Gilby broke her foot in fall outside her home and later had cardiac arrest in hospital
Steven Morris and agency
@stevenmorris20
Thu 19 Dec 2019 16.19 GMT Last modified on Thu 19 Dec 2019 21.40 GMT
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Donna Gilby was forced to wait nearly six hours on the freezing pavement for an ambulance. Photograph: Media Wales
A 47-year-old woman died after falling outside her home and waiting for several hours on a cold pavement for an ambulance.
Donna Gilby was unable to move after breaking her foot in the fall on a residential street in the village of Cwmaman in south Wales.
Gilby’s family claim she was there for almost six hours until an ambulance arrived, during which time neighbours and relatives covered her with coats and blankets to try to keep her warm.
She was eventually collected and taken to hospital, where she later died of cardiac arrest.
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The Welsh ambulance service accepted that the response took longer than it would have liked and it has launched an investigation. It said an increase in the number of high-priority “red” calls and significant hospital handover delays were affecting its response times.
Gilby’s father, Gareth Gilby, 74, said she tripped as she was getting out of her car. “There was nothing we could do because she had a bad break and we couldn’t physically move her from the pavement,” he said. “We kept ringing the ambulance and she was in and out of consciousness but they still didn’t show up for hours.”
He added: “I still can’t believe she’s gone. I’m in shock. We’ve got an 11-year-old girl here now without a mother. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Gilby was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when her family say she fell shortly before 8am on Tuesday. “We then called the ambulance service and told them Donna was slipping in and out of consciousness – that must have been somewhere between 8am and 8.30am,” her father said.
“The call handler told us they were dealing with a heavy influx of calls and that they’d be with her as soon as possible. When there was still no sign an hour later, we called again. This time we were told they were doing their best but that they didn’t know when they would get to her.”
He believes the ambulance arrived shortly before 2pm. It took his daughter to Prince Charles hospital in Merthyr Tydfil where she died in the early hours of Wednesday.
He said: “She always put others before herself – she’d do anything for anyone. As a result she put her own problems second, like the fact that she’d struggled with her weight and ill health for years.”
The chief executive of the Welsh ambulance service, Jason Killens, said: “We were deeply saddened to hear about the death of Ms Gilby and would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to her family. We are sorry that our response took longer than we would have liked on this occasion. Our ambulance service exists to care for people, and our staff share the same upset and frustrations as patients and their loved ones at times like this.
“Lengthy waits for an ambulance are a sign of pressures across the whole unscheduled care system, not just in Wales but across the UK. An increase in high-priority red calls and significant hospital handover delays in particular are impacting on our ability to respond to 999 calls as quickly as we would like.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ly-SIX-hours-freezing-pavement-ambulance.html
Mother, 47, who was forced to wait nearly SIX hours on freezing pavement for an ambulance after slipping and breaking her foot dies of heart attack in hospital just hours later
Published: 09:44 GMT, 19 December 2019 | Updated: 14:42 GMT, 19 December 2019
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A mother who was forced to wait nearly six hours on a freezing pavement for an ambulance later died in hospital of a heart attack.
Donna Gilby left her flat just after 8am on Tuesday morning for a doctor's appointment when she slipped and fractured her foot.
Now the 47-year-old's family wants the world to see the photograph of her on the freezing pavement - face-down and unable to move - as her friends and neighbours rallied round, covering her with blankets and duvets to keep her warm.
They also called 999 for the mother-of-one, from Cwmaman, who suffered from an irregular heart beat and had two mini-strokes, and alerted her family who live nearby.
Donna Gilby stranded on the pavement outside her Cwmaman home as she waited around six hours for an ambulance, she is pictured above on the floor
Her father Gareth Gilby, 74, a former factory worker, said: 'We then called the ambulance service and told them Donna was slipping in and out of consciousness - that must have been somewhere between 8 and 8.30am.'
'The call handler told us they were dealing with 'a heavy influx of calls' and that they'd be with her 'as soon as possible'.
'When there was still no sign an hour later we called again - this time we were told they were 'doing their best' but that they 'didn't know when they would get to her'.
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He adds that the ambulance finally arrived shortly before two o'clock and rushed his daughter to Prince Charles hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.
But, in the early hours of the morning, Donna suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away.
'We still can't really believe it,' adds Gareth.
'She was as good as gold and always put others before herself - she'd do anything for anyone.
'As a result she put her own problems second, like the fact that she'd struggled with her weight and ill-health for years.'
Donna's father Gareth Gilby (left) said they called an ambulance while his daughter was slipping in and out of consciousness on the pavement (right)
The steps (pictured above) which Donna is thought to have slipped on, causing her to fracture her foot. She was unable to move after the accident
The 47-year-old's nephew James Perkins, a 28-year-old construction worker, says he had just been celebrating his own 13-month-old son coming out of intensive care at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant when he got the devastating news.
'My boy had been touch-and-go with bronchiolitis, so I'd been showing my mates in work photos of him looking well again when I took the call about my auntie.
'I just can't believe it - it's cruel. Her poor little girl. Every Christmas from now on is going to be a reminder of her losing her mum.
'Thankfully this is a strong family unit and she'll be well looked after, but I'm so sad for her.'
In a statement from the Welsh Ambulance Service, Chief Executive Jason Killens said: 'We were deeply saddened to hear about the death of Ms Gilby and would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to her family.
In the early hours of the morning Donna Gilby suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away. The Welsh Amubulance service apologised for its slow response
The ambulance service has since apologised for the slow response in its service which left Donna waiting at the bottom of her steps (above)
'We are sorry that our response took longer than we would have liked on this occasion.
'Our ambulance service exists to care for people, and our staff share the same upset and frustrations as patients and their loved ones at times like this.
'Lengthy waits for an ambulance are a sign of pressures across the whole unscheduled care system, not just in Wales but across the UK.
'An increase in high-priority 'Red' calls and significant hospital handover delays in particular are impacting on our ability to respond to 999 calls as quickly as we would like.
'We are investigating Ms Gilby's case and would invite her family to contact us directly to share their experience of what happened in order to inform that investigation.'
A spokeswoman for Cwm Taf Health Board said: 'We are unable to comment on the details of individual cases, however we would like to offer our condolences to the family.
'Should anyone have any concerns about any care and treatment provided, we would encourage them to get in touch with us.'
Woman dies in Welsh hospital after six-hour wait for ambulance
Donna Gilby broke her foot in fall outside her home and later had cardiac arrest in hospital
Steven Morris and agency
@stevenmorris20
Thu 19 Dec 2019 16.19 GMT Last modified on Thu 19 Dec 2019 21.40 GMT
Shares
507
Donna Gilby was forced to wait nearly six hours on the freezing pavement for an ambulance. Photograph: Media Wales
A 47-year-old woman died after falling outside her home and waiting for several hours on a cold pavement for an ambulance.
Donna Gilby was unable to move after breaking her foot in the fall on a residential street in the village of Cwmaman in south Wales.
Gilby’s family claim she was there for almost six hours until an ambulance arrived, during which time neighbours and relatives covered her with coats and blankets to try to keep her warm.
She was eventually collected and taken to hospital, where she later died of cardiac arrest.
Get Society Weekly: our newsletter for public service professionals
Read more
The Welsh ambulance service accepted that the response took longer than it would have liked and it has launched an investigation. It said an increase in the number of high-priority “red” calls and significant hospital handover delays were affecting its response times.
Gilby’s father, Gareth Gilby, 74, said she tripped as she was getting out of her car. “There was nothing we could do because she had a bad break and we couldn’t physically move her from the pavement,” he said. “We kept ringing the ambulance and she was in and out of consciousness but they still didn’t show up for hours.”
He added: “I still can’t believe she’s gone. I’m in shock. We’ve got an 11-year-old girl here now without a mother. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Gilby was on her way to a doctor’s appointment when her family say she fell shortly before 8am on Tuesday. “We then called the ambulance service and told them Donna was slipping in and out of consciousness – that must have been somewhere between 8am and 8.30am,” her father said.
“The call handler told us they were dealing with a heavy influx of calls and that they’d be with her as soon as possible. When there was still no sign an hour later, we called again. This time we were told they were doing their best but that they didn’t know when they would get to her.”
He believes the ambulance arrived shortly before 2pm. It took his daughter to Prince Charles hospital in Merthyr Tydfil where she died in the early hours of Wednesday.
He said: “She always put others before herself – she’d do anything for anyone. As a result she put her own problems second, like the fact that she’d struggled with her weight and ill health for years.”
The chief executive of the Welsh ambulance service, Jason Killens, said: “We were deeply saddened to hear about the death of Ms Gilby and would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to her family. We are sorry that our response took longer than we would have liked on this occasion. Our ambulance service exists to care for people, and our staff share the same upset and frustrations as patients and their loved ones at times like this.
“Lengthy waits for an ambulance are a sign of pressures across the whole unscheduled care system, not just in Wales but across the UK. An increase in high-priority red calls and significant hospital handover delays in particular are impacting on our ability to respond to 999 calls as quickly as we would like.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ly-SIX-hours-freezing-pavement-ambulance.html
Mother, 47, who was forced to wait nearly SIX hours on freezing pavement for an ambulance after slipping and breaking her foot dies of heart attack in hospital just hours later
- Donna Gilby, 47, left her flat in Cwmaman, Wales, just after 8am on Tuesday morning and slipped over
- Friends and family called an ambulance and huddled around her with blankets and tried to keep her warm
- Ambulance turned up six hours later and took the mother-of-one to hospital, she suffered a cardiac arrest
- Family have now said she was the sort of woman who 'always put others before herself' and was 'good as gold'
Published: 09:44 GMT, 19 December 2019 | Updated: 14:42 GMT, 19 December 2019
7.9k shares
1.4k
View comments
A mother who was forced to wait nearly six hours on a freezing pavement for an ambulance later died in hospital of a heart attack.
Donna Gilby left her flat just after 8am on Tuesday morning for a doctor's appointment when she slipped and fractured her foot.
Now the 47-year-old's family wants the world to see the photograph of her on the freezing pavement - face-down and unable to move - as her friends and neighbours rallied round, covering her with blankets and duvets to keep her warm.
They also called 999 for the mother-of-one, from Cwmaman, who suffered from an irregular heart beat and had two mini-strokes, and alerted her family who live nearby.
Donna Gilby stranded on the pavement outside her Cwmaman home as she waited around six hours for an ambulance, she is pictured above on the floor
Her father Gareth Gilby, 74, a former factory worker, said: 'We then called the ambulance service and told them Donna was slipping in and out of consciousness - that must have been somewhere between 8 and 8.30am.'
'The call handler told us they were dealing with 'a heavy influx of calls' and that they'd be with her 'as soon as possible'.
'When there was still no sign an hour later we called again - this time we were told they were 'doing their best' but that they 'didn't know when they would get to her'.
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He adds that the ambulance finally arrived shortly before two o'clock and rushed his daughter to Prince Charles hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.
But, in the early hours of the morning, Donna suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away.
'We still can't really believe it,' adds Gareth.
'She was as good as gold and always put others before herself - she'd do anything for anyone.
'As a result she put her own problems second, like the fact that she'd struggled with her weight and ill-health for years.'
Donna's father Gareth Gilby (left) said they called an ambulance while his daughter was slipping in and out of consciousness on the pavement (right)
The steps (pictured above) which Donna is thought to have slipped on, causing her to fracture her foot. She was unable to move after the accident
The 47-year-old's nephew James Perkins, a 28-year-old construction worker, says he had just been celebrating his own 13-month-old son coming out of intensive care at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant when he got the devastating news.
'My boy had been touch-and-go with bronchiolitis, so I'd been showing my mates in work photos of him looking well again when I took the call about my auntie.
'I just can't believe it - it's cruel. Her poor little girl. Every Christmas from now on is going to be a reminder of her losing her mum.
'Thankfully this is a strong family unit and she'll be well looked after, but I'm so sad for her.'
In a statement from the Welsh Ambulance Service, Chief Executive Jason Killens said: 'We were deeply saddened to hear about the death of Ms Gilby and would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to her family.
In the early hours of the morning Donna Gilby suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away. The Welsh Amubulance service apologised for its slow response
The ambulance service has since apologised for the slow response in its service which left Donna waiting at the bottom of her steps (above)
'We are sorry that our response took longer than we would have liked on this occasion.
'Our ambulance service exists to care for people, and our staff share the same upset and frustrations as patients and their loved ones at times like this.
'Lengthy waits for an ambulance are a sign of pressures across the whole unscheduled care system, not just in Wales but across the UK.
'An increase in high-priority 'Red' calls and significant hospital handover delays in particular are impacting on our ability to respond to 999 calls as quickly as we would like.
'We are investigating Ms Gilby's case and would invite her family to contact us directly to share their experience of what happened in order to inform that investigation.'
A spokeswoman for Cwm Taf Health Board said: 'We are unable to comment on the details of individual cases, however we would like to offer our condolences to the family.
'Should anyone have any concerns about any care and treatment provided, we would encourage them to get in touch with us.'
