Ripley pensioner dies in hospital after 11-hour ambulance wait on the floor

A coroner has ruled that the death of a 94-year-old could have been avoided after the pensioner was left on the floor of her home for over 11 hours before an ambulance arrived.

Vera Spencer fell at her home in Ripley on the evening of December 6, 2023, at 10.10pm, yet paramedics failed to arrive until 9.01am the next day. The pensioner then died five days after her initial call to East Midlands Ambulance Service.

After she fell, she was able to use her lifeline alarm to alert her next-of-kin of her fall, who then were able to call the ambulance service. However, when they arrived it had been 11 hours that the pensioner had spent on the floor.

After Mrs Spencer had been taken to hospital she had X-rays carried out that showed she had sustained significant fractures in her hip as well as a chest infection.

She then underwent surgery, and while she remained in a sustained condition throughout December 8, the day after her fall, Mrs Spencer then started to deteriorate on December 9, with her conditioning worsening as she developed breathing difficulties and sadly died on December 11.

Her medical cause of death was listed by the coroner as pneumonia caused by her fall as well as chronic kidney disease and heart failure.

The court heard evidence that the ambulance service was under severe pressure on the day that Mrs Spencer had her fall, which was attributed to a a high volume of calls as well as long handover delays at hospitals.

Coroner Sophie Lomas said: "At times when the ambulance service is under extreme pressure, individuals who have fallen at home can wait many hours on the floor before paramedics can attend.

"This is usually because falls are given a lower categorisation by the ambulance service because it is not a life-threatening situation. Resultant long lies can increase the risk of pneumonia, pressure damage and rhabdomyolysis.

"It was not possible to determine on the evidence available whether the long lie whilst awaiting an ambulance contributed to the development of pneumonia or whether earlier ambulance attendance and earlier treatment may have prevented Mrs Spencer’s death."

The coroner then recommended that the "action should be taken to prevent future deaths" and goes on to to say that she believes that the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board "has the power to take such action". But she did not specify exactly what form the action should take.

At the time of writing the ICB has not yet responded to the coroner, yet they have released a public statement. The spokesperson said: "We extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Vera Spencer over their loss. We will respond to the prevention of future deaths report from coroner Sophie Lomas in line with her request."