An urgent review has been launched by ABMU Health board in South Wales after it was reported that a man died after having to wait for more than four hours outside the Accident & Emergency department of the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend.
The patient was brought to the hospital in an ambulance and was assessed by a doctor whilst still in the ambulance. After this he was admitted to the accident & emergency department at 11am and became unwell two hours after this. Later on, despite the efforts of staff to resuscitate the patient, he died.
A statement released by the ABMU Health Board said:
“We are deeply saddened to report the death of a patient in the emergency department of the Princess of Wales Hospital on January 16. We wish to express our sincere condolences to the patient’s family.
“Prior to being admitted to the department, the patient was in an ambulance, attended by paramedics, for over four hours.”
The review will look into the coroner’s report and determine whether the patient’s death was avoidable and what led to the length of time he was present in the ambulance outside of the hospital itself.
The accident & emergency department was extremely busy on the day the fatality occurred and the health board are determined to learn lessons from a very sad case.
