Yahoo News Man's partner called 999 five times before ambulance was sent out, inquest hears
The partner of a Cornwall man who died after complaining of severe abdominal pain called 999 five times before an ambulance was sent out, an inquest has heard. Charles George Edward Devos was described as being a “very fit and active person” who “never had anything wrong with him” before experiencing sudden and acute pain in his stomach on the evening of January 8, 2021.
An inquest into his death held at Cornwall Coroner's Court in Truro today (November 20) heard how the 54-year-old’s partner, Hayley Hicks, first called 999 at around 10:55pm on January 8 to request an ambulance for him as she was concerned about the level of pain he was in. She told the call operator that Charles was profusely sweating, feeling really unwell, "feeling hot one minute and cold the next", had really bad abdominal pain, and was flushed in the face.
During the emergency call, Charles could be heard in the background screaming in pain as Hayley expressed her worry for him because “he never had anything wrong with him ever” and this was particularly unusual. Hayley was told by the call operator that her contact number would be noted so a paramedic could call back to give Charles a clinical assessment.
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However, around 45 minutes to an hour later, she called 999 for a second time to inform them that Charles had developed a fever and was vomiting. Hayley said at the time, “there is no mistaking he has to have an ambulance right now”, and that she was not able to take Charles to the hospital herself from their home in Marazion as she has multiple sclerosis and would not have been able to move him.
The inquest heard that during the 999 call, it was identified that Charles required further clinical assessment before an ambulance was sent out. His call was prioritised as Category Five for ambulance response time—the less urgent response category—as it was established that he would have been assessed by a clinician more quickly rather than "sitting in a pile for hours and hours" waiting for an ambulance.
As a result, Hayley did not receive a call back for a clinical assessment for Charles until 3:15am on January 9 - three-and-a-half hours after her 999 call. During this call, Charles was able to talk normally and told the clinician that his abdominal pain had started at around 5pm that evening and “accelerated into something really quite nasty that I’ve never suffered before”.
While he said the pain had “calmed down” at that point, he was still uncomfortable and felt that his stomach muscles were still sore, perhaps because he had vomited twice. Charles was told by the clinician that he should take some ibuprofen and go to hospital that evening, rather than waiting until the morning.
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The inquest then heard that almost 12 hours later, at 3:02pm on January 9, Hayley made a third 999 call, during which Charles explained that his abdominal pain was both above and below his belly button. This call resulted in the response time being upgraded from a Category Five to a Category Three.
A fourth 999 call was made by Hayley at 3:40pm but this was thought to be in response to missed calls from the ambulance service. At 3:50pm, a clinician called her back and life-threatening clinical-shock factors were identified as Hayley said Charles was “sweating buckets” and “cold to the touch”.
She then made a fifth 999 call at 4:23pm to say that Charles was sweating, in “dreadful pain”, and couldn’t move. It was identified that this should have meant his call was upgraded to a Category Two but was instead upgraded to the top of Category Three.
The inquest heard that this would not have resulted in a delay in ambulance response time as the next closest ambulance then arrived at their home at 4:30pm and further assistance was requested.
However, at 6:08pm, paramedics confirmed that Charles had suffered cardiac arrest and died. A post-mortem examination gave a cause of death as small bowel infarction - a blockage or narrowing of the arteries that supply the bowel, which reduces the flow of blood to the area.
During the inquest, Dr Simon Scott-Hayward from South Western Ambulance Service, explained that abdominal pain is a common complaint in the emergency department and that symptoms can be a result of a number of factors, ranging from acute gastroenteritis (a very common condition that causes diarrhoea and vomiting) to ischemic bowel, "with everything in between." Therefore, in Charles’ case, he required a clinician’s opinion for further understanding of his condition before an ambulance was sent out.
It was also heard that at the time, it was at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and there was high demand from hospitals and the ambulance service which meant patients were waiting for longer. Earlier that week, England was put into the third national lockdown and cases were rising. Therefore, this meant that there was extreme pressure faced by the ambulance service resulting in a number of delays in response time and calls back from clinicians for assessment.
In a statement read out on behalf of Hayley, she said that she believes that her first 999 call should have raised concern of sepsis and that if Charles had been taken to hospital during the early hours of January 9, he could have had emergency surgery and would have survived.
Independent expert and general surgeon, Professor Peter Sagar, also said that in his opinion, by the time the ambulance arrived, “the die was cast” and Charles’ condition was not survivable. However, he added that on the balance of probabilities, if Charles had been taken to the hospital on the evening of January 8 or the early hours of January 9 and had emergency surgery, his condition could have been survivable. Professor Sagar said that his findings were not a criticism of Charles’ care from the ambulance team but simply a discussion where there could have been intervention which would have made a difference.
The inquest continues…
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