Paramedic was in a gathering when she may have handled dying motorcyclist father-of-five who handed away after 54-minute await therapy, inquest hears
A critical care medic was in a meeting she didn’t need to be in when asked to attend a collision which killed a dad-of-five, an inquest has heard.
Aaron Morris, who was about to become a father to twins, was left lying in the road for almost an hour after his motorbike was involved in a collision with a car in Esh Winning, County Durham on July 1 2022.
An ambulance should have been on the scene within 18 minutes of the initial 999 call, however, Aaron faced a 54 minute wait for a paramedic, before eventually passing away at University Hospital of North Durham later that day because the only available Clinical Team Leader on call was in a meeting.
At County Durham and Darlington Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) admitted that there were failings in the handling of Aaron’s case.
Today, Barrister Sam Harmel, representing Aaron’s family, asked Senior Assistant Coroner, Crispin Oliver, to consider neglect in his conclusion of how Aaron came to his death.
Aaron Morris (left), who was about to become a father to twins, was left lying in the road for almost an hour after his motorbike was involved in a collision with a car in Esh Winning, County Durham
An ambulance should have been on the scene within 18 minutes of the initial 999 call, however, Aaron faced a 54 minute wait for a paramedic
Samantha Morris has received the North East Ambulance Service report following an investigation into their response into the collision Aaron died in, which states ‘There was a series of errors and system failures that led to Aaron’s death’
His wife Samantha Morris was 13 weeks pregnant with twins and celebrating her birthday when the crash happened.
NEAS, which has been praised by Aaron’s family and the coroner for its transparency and honesty in the inquest, told the court that a specialist medic, known as a Clinical Team Leader (CTL), was based approximately 9.1 miles away in Stanley at the time of the collision and could have attended.
However, CTL Sarah Hall was in a meeting she didn’t need to be in and did not dispatch to the scene when a colleague queried whether she was available.
She was the only operating CTL at the time of the collision, an inquest heard. This was a new role within the Trust at the time.
Benjamin Barber, a locality manager and paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), admitted to the court that Ms Hall should have stopped the meeting and attended the call.
When asked by the Coroner if she should have ‘stopped that and gone’, Mr Barber said: ‘Yes’.
He told the court: ‘I think it was just a misunderstanding that day that when Sarah was offered that job she should have responded.’
He added: ‘The CTL role had only been in fruition for about six to eight weeks. The role that most of the people had moved into that position from was more of a managerial role before that day.
‘Previously you would stand yourself down to support staff in those meetings.’
Ms Morris pictured with her twin boys Aaron-Junior John Robson Morris (left) and Ambrose-Ayren Morris (right)
Benjamin Barber, a locality manager and paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), admitted to the court that Ms Hall should have stopped the meeting and attended the call
Aaron Morris sustained serious injuries when his motorcycle was involved in a crash on Priestburn Close in Esh Winning just after 12.30pm
The crew were en-route to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) when Aaron suffered a cardiac arrest
Although it is unclear the time in which Ms Hall was asked to attend the scene, had she responded at 12.40pm, when 999 call operators had sufficient information about the incident to consider sending a CLT, Ms Hall could have been the first responder on scene, the inquest heard.
The court was told that she would have arrived between 1pm and 1.13pm and could have requested the support of an air ambulance.
Instead, one ambulance from a third party ambulance company, Ambulanz, arrived at 1.21pm after being allocated at 1.08pm.
The crew were en-route to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) when Aaron suffered a cardiac arrest.
The ambulance was diverted to the University Hospital of North Durham, where Aaron was pronounced dead at 6.40pm.
A NEAS serious incident report following his death said that Aaron had a 95% chance of survival of his injuries. Mr Barber, author of the report, told the inquest: ‘There was a lot of failings through [Aaron’s case] which led unfortunately to the outcome.’
The inquest is expected to conclude on Friday, November 15.
