Grimsby family call for answers after death of man following ambulance wait

A bereaved family are calling for answers after the death of a man who had to wait twice as long for an ambulance as he was initially told.

Paul Westerman's partner, Joanne, called 999 when he became breathless and began struggling to move at his home in Grimsby.

The family say call handlers indicated it would take two hours to arrive, but paramedics did not get to the home for four hours, by which time Mr Westerman's condition had worsened.

The 54-year-old died at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital on 3 January.

Mr Westerman's sister-in-law, Diane, said: "When my sister Joanne rang at 12.31am, she was told an ambulance would be there within two hours, but it didn't get there until 4.40am.

"Although Paul was still alive when they arrived, he had become much worse."

She added: "Joanne was told to get to the hospital as soon as she could as he had taken a turn for the worse and by the time she'd got there, Paul had passed away."

The family were told there were multiple complications which led to Mr Westerman's death, including acute sepsis and cellulitis along with Covid-19.

Diane said: "When we found out Paul had died, I couldn't believe it. I was in complete shock, I thought it was a joke at first.

"He was part of our family for nearly 37 years. He was often described as being the joker of the pack and a fun, caring kind of guy. Paul had a heart of absolute gold."

The incident comes as health trusts face huge pressure amid high rates of hospital admissions and problems discharging patients into the community.

Mr Westerman's family say the paramedics and nursing staff are not to blame.

Diane said: "My issue is with the system. People are fighting for a good wage and striking, but this is the result of all that. If the way things work was altered and these people given what they deserve then this could have been avoided.

"If the ambulance could have got to Paul in time I believe he might still be alive today. If nothing else, they could have kept him alive long enough for Jo to get there and say her goodbyes."

She added: "My sister is really struggling with it all and it's still a shock to know that he's gone, it's all quite surreal to be honest. When I first went to my sister's house after Paul died I just put my arms around her and said 'what the heck has happened'?"

Sue Cousland, divisional director for Lincolnshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service, said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the patient’s family and we are deeply sorry that we were unable to get to this patient sooner.

"We continue to experience long handover delays at emergency departments and an extremely high level of life-threatening and serious emergency calls which means we are having to prioritise those patients with immediate life-threatening conditions and severe injuries.

"We would like to speak to the patient’s family about their experience and urge them to get in touch with us at their earliest convenience."