An Inquest at Norwich Coroners Court is set to hear how a failure by the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) to correctly code the 999 call it received from a patient, and inadequacies with the prioritisation software used by the trust, meant a
Jeanette Charity, a 47 year old woman from Gorleston died on the 26 January 2017. She had telephoned 999 at 03:11 on the morning of her death, complaining of severe abdominal pain and breathing difficulties.
A subsequent investigation by the Trust revealed that an error by their call handler in failing to record Jeanette’s breathing difficulties, led to a downgrading of the seriousness of the incident meaning she was schedules for a call-back, rather than face-to-face attendance.
The situation was further compounded by the fact that the prioritisation software which the Trust utilises produces an incorrect response priority or patients with particular symptoms associated with abdominal pain.
When the ambulance service attended at her home, some 2 hours after the original call, she was found lying half off the bed and not breathing, having suffered a cardiac arrest.
The deceased sister, Andrea Arger, who was living with her at the time of the incident, said “I’m hoping that I will get answers as to whether my sister would still be alive today had she received the emergency treatment she needed. Whilst she had been poorly with a stomach upset, she was not, in my view, seriously ill and I believe with the correct treatment she’d still be with us.”
The family’s lawyer, David Jones from Morgan Jones Pett solicitors said, “This is a very tragic case involving the death of a relatively young woman whose family, quite rightly, want answers. What this case also highlights is that there is an urgent need for bereaved families to receive legal aid for representation at inquests where public bodies are legally represented. We are representing the family of Jeanette on a pro-bono basis at the inquest. Without our free support, the family would have no legal representation at this hearing and potentially not get the answers they need.”
