A VETERAN of the Royal Air Force (RAF) from Rhyl who died at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd had to wait in the back of an ambulance for more than 10 hours after it had arrived at the hospital.

Philip Charles Hawkins died aged 97 on March 23, with an inquest concluding on July 18 that his death was accidental.

He had suffered a fall at his home on March 18, which led to his admission to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, where he subsequently died five days later.

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Following the conclusion of the inquest into his death, David Pojur, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report.

His report was sent to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) and the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST), who are duty-bound to respond to it by September 12.

The report stated that Mr Hawkins arrived at hospital at 1.25pm on March 18, but remained in the ambulance which transferred him until 11.42pm that night.

He was then “offloaded” onto a corridor in the hospital’s emergency department, before being moved to a rapid assessment room at 11.33am on March 19.

Mr Hawkins was moved again, into a cubicle, at 9.47pm that night, and it was not until 7.17pm on March 20 that he was allocated to a bed from the emergency department.

The report also highlighted the following concerns regarding the care Mr Hawkins received in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd’s emergency department:

  • There was no space for a nurse to attend to Mr Hawkins’ personal care needs or assess his pressure areas.
  • Mr Hawkins needed “repeat bloods”, but this was never done, nor highlighted to clinicians.
  • Mr Hawkins was given oxygen, but there were no nursing notes to indicate why, or whether this was discussed with a clinician.
  • There is no written nursing documentation in relation to Mr Hawkins’ care from 9.52pm on March 19.
  • Mr Hawkins was “nil by mouth” (not allowed to have any form of food, drink or medication by mouth), but this was not made known to visitors who fed him.

It also found that there were insufficient nursing and clinical staff to attend to the numbers of patients, and consequently, staff were unable to fulfil their role in caring for Mr Hawkins.

Mr Pojur added in his report: “Specifically, I am concerned as to the wait and delay Mr Hawkins had to endure to enter hospital, and the same in respect of being provided with a bed, the inability of staff to tend to him, the lack of available staff, and the lack of written record of assessment and treatment.”

The responses to the report from both BCUHB and WAST must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out the timetable for action.

Otherwise, they must explain why no action is proposed.

A lifelong Rhyl resident, Mr Hawkins began his career aged 16 in 1949 at the Journal as an apprentice, before later serving in the RAF.

Paying tribute to him following his death, his family described him as “loyal, loving, lovable and dependable."