Girl, 12, died after waiting an hour for ambulance
A GIRL who died of a rare disease waited more than an hour for an ambulance at a GP surgery, an inquest has heard.
Ffion Jones, from Rumney, Cardiff, was taken to her local GP surgery by her mother after complaining of tiredness over a weekend that led to severe vomiting on December 7, 2016.
The 12-year-old was found to have an elevated heart rate, fast breathing and her blood pressure was so low it was unrecordable.
Unknown to her family and her GP at the time, Ffion had Addison’s disease, a rare disorder of the adrenal glands.
An inquest into Ffion’s death held at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court yesterday heard that a GP requested an emergency eight-minute ambulance to take her to hospital.
Summarising the facts of the case, assistant coroner David Regan told the court the ambulance took an hour to arrive, by which time she had collapsed and gone into cardiac arrest.
She was taken to hospital and was admitted to a paediatric unit. It was there that it was discovered she was suffering from complications related to Addison’s disease.
Ffion was pronounced dead at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, at 1.31pm the following day.
A statement was read out on behalf of Ffion’s mother, Stephanie Jones.
Mrs Jones said she received a call from Ffion’s school on December 5, saying she was feeling sick.
She stayed at home with her father the following day but had been vomiting continuously.
On the morning of Wednesday, December 7, she said it was clear Ffion had “more than just a simple bug” and they contacted the local GP practice.
She was taken to an appointment with Dr Nicola Leeson at Rumney Primary Care Centre at about 2pm the same day.
Giving evidence, Dr Leeson told the court: “As they came through the door Ffion said she felt unwell and wanted to lie down on the bed. I actually thought she looked quite unwell.”
Dr Leeson said Ffion’s mother told her she had been vomiting for the past 48 hours, and didn’t have any history of serious medical problems.
Under examination, Dr Leeson said she found Ffion’s breathing was elevated, and her heart rate was around 160 beats per minute.
Her blood pressure was so low it wasn’t possible to take a reading.
Dr Leeson said she immediately called for an ambulance.
She told the court she had recently received training that led her to believe the Welsh Ambulance Service wouldn’t provide an eight-minute emergency ambulance to GP surgeries unless it was for a cardiac arrest, choking or hanging incident – so she made the call herself to a special number.
Dr Leeson said she made the first call at 2.24pm, but was told she needed to call 999.
She then redialled 999 but was told they couldn’t provide an eight-minute ambulance, but that one would be sent as soon as possible after that.
Dr Leeson then made a call to the paediatrics department at UHW to inform them that Ffion would be arriving and to ask for advice on how to care for her in the interim.
“I was very disappointed to be told on the new system that the operator was unable to send me an eight-minute ambulance as I requested,” she said.
“[The operator] did say that she was going down the 999 line and she would arrange one for me quickly.”
She added: “I didn’t get the response I was expecting so I was taken aback.”
Dr Leeson said she kept Ffion lying down and provided her with Dioralyte to drink while they waited. She said Ffion’s condition improved.
However, shortly after 3pm Ffion collapsed. Paramedic Matt Taylor was the first responder to reach the GP surgery. Mr Taylor confirmed cardiac arrest and commenced CPR. Glucose and saline were also administered to Ffion.
An ambulance arrived at 3.30pm and took Ffion to UHW at 3.41pm, and a pulse was regained on the journey.
Dr Malcolm Gajraj, consultant in paediatric intensive care at UHW, said: “My expectation is that yes, if we had treated the hypovolemia, we would have reduced the chances of an arrest.”
The inquest, which is expected to last two days, continues.