A 55-year-old man died alone after twice calling 999 only to be told by call handlers an ambulance would not be sent for him.
Brian Hurton had an aortic dissection – when a tear opens up in the body’s main artery – on 18 November last year.
He called the emergency services at 17:55, complaining that he was struggling to breathe and felt like he was going to collapse.
He was told that a clinician would call him back, and that if he got worse in the meantime he should call the emergency services again.
He did call again, about 10 minutes later, and told the call handler he was “losing breath”. He was again told that someone would call him back.
According to the transcript, seen by Scotland News, Brian was told: “We are quite busy in the area at the moment Brian, so based on the information provided instead of an ambulance response initially one of our clinicians is (going to) call you back.”
An hour and 12 minutes after his first call, a clinician called him back.
But that call and two further calls went unanswered.
An ambulance was not dispatched until 21:12, and arrived at 21:19 – almost three-and-a-half hours after his first call to 999.
The front door of Brian’s home in East Kilbride was ajar, and he was found by paramedics. He was lying dead on his bathroom floor.
