Inquest Hears Man Died Following Five 999 Calls Before Ambulance Dispatch

An inquest has been informed that a woman made five separate 999 calls before an ambulance was dispatched to assist her partner, who suffered from a treatable bowel condition. Charles Devos, aged 54, passed away on 9 January 2021, having experienced a cardiac arrest at his residence in Marazion, Cornwall. During the proceedings in Truro, it was revealed that Mr. Devos’s ailment had progressed to an untreatable state by the point his partner, Hayley Hicks, contacted emergency services for the third occasion. Her initial 999 call occurred around 22:55 GMT on 8 January, with her fifth and ultimate call made at 16:23 on the subsequent day, during which she informed the operator that he was “in dreadful pain,” according to testimony at the inquest. An ambulance reached their home at 16:30, but Mr. Devos passed away shortly thereafter. Assistant coroner Guy Davies stated that Mr. Devos had been a fit and healthy individual before experiencing a small bowel infarction. Mr. Davies attributed Mr. Devos’s death to a treatable bowel condition and cited extreme operational pressures on the ambulance service as a contributing factor. He further noted that there were missed opportunities for his treatment. Mr. Davies declared: “There was systemic failure within the system of health and social care which was causative of Charles’ death.” The assistant coroner for Cornwall concluded that his death could have been avoided. He also indicated his intention to communicate with the health secretary regarding these failures. A joint statement issued by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, and NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board expressed an apology for the delay. The statement read: “We are sorry for the unacceptable delay in the care that Mr Devos received in 2021. We would like to extend our sincere condolences to his family.“Delays in emergency care are not something we want any of our patients to experience, and our teams are working incredibly hard to make improvements so that everyone can access the right care when they need it.“We have made significant changes to strengthen our community and home-based services. “The increased access to alternative community services will help reduce avoidable admissions and delays, which can lead to harm for people in need of emergency acute hospital care.”