Rushden heart attack dad was given two-hour ambulance wait time

Mr Marques had a blockage in one of his arteries
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The family of a Rushden man who suffered a heart attack have spoken of their disbelief at being told there would be a two-hour wait for an ambulance.

Carlos Marques, 63, was enjoying a family meal with his son, daughter-in-law and her mother on Sunday, March 13, when he fell ill with severe chest pains and clammy skin.

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Daughter-in-law Frankie Marques, who has had first aid training, says she knew immediately that Mr Marques needed urgent emergency help as his skin was going grey - so she called 999 at 4.13pm and asked for an ambulance.

Carlos MarquesCarlos Marques
Carlos Marques

Instead of being told help was on its way immediately, the family was told paramedics wouldn't be with them for two hours and that they could try to locate a defibrillator and to give Mr Marques aspirin.

Ms Marques said: "We were having Sunday lunch at my mum's house in Rushden when my father-in-law became ill. He was sweating and his face was grey. Chest pains - I know the symptoms.

"I knew he was having a heart attack so I rang for an ambulance. I said 'my father-in-law's having a heart attack'. They said 'I'm organising help as we speak - it will be two hours.'

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"My husband said 'we need an ambulance now'. She (the call handler) had the cheek to say remain calm.

Recovering - Carlos Marques in hospital being visited by son MauroRecovering - Carlos Marques in hospital being visited by son Mauro
Recovering - Carlos Marques in hospital being visited by son Mauro

"She then said we could get a defibrillator if there was one near - but she didn't tell us where - and we should use aspirin. She didn't say anything about CPR.

"I felt angry when they told us two hours. My husband was very angry."

Ms Marques was so concerned that she may have to perform CPR that she swilled her mouth out with water as she had been eating. Her father-in-law continued to be in 'excruciating pain'.

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The family made the decision to drive to Kettering General Hospital (KGH), with Mr Marques in the back of the car being looked after by his daughter-in-law.

Fifteen minutes after the original eight-minute long 999 call, the family contacted East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) to cancel the request for an ambulance.

During the journey, Ms Marques also called the A&E department to alert medics to their imminent arrival.

She said: "As I was in the car, when we were on the way, I called KGH to say he was having a heart attack. They said we should call 999 - I said we already have."

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When they arrived the staff were waiting for them, whisking Mr Marques away to be treated.

Ms Marques said: "When we got there the doctor said 'what's this country turning into? I'm so, so sorry'.

"If we hadn't got a car, what would have happened? What if someone else was in that position?"

"They said that we had got him to the hospital just in time."

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Tests performed at KGH discovered that Mr Marques needs a triple-heart bypass due to a blocked artery and to have a pacemaker fitted.

The operation to graft new vessels to divert blood supply around the blocked artery is due to take place on Thursday, March 24, at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital - a specialist heart unit.

Ms Marques added: "He's quite anxious about the operation but thank goodness he's stable and comfortable now."

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) NHS Trust provides emergency 999 and urgent care services for a population of approximately 4.8 million people within the East Midlands region. This region covers approximately 6,425 square miles and includes the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland.

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In 2019 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported the EMAS trust performance in the seven-minute national standard for Category 1 calls had improved significantly over recent months and was on an 'improving trajectory'. The trust had implemented a new service and improved triage to maintain the improvements. The trust was given the overall grading of 'good'.

Every moment counts for cardiac arrest patients. Research has shown that if patients are given treatment immediately, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation - an electric shock to restart the heart - about two-thirds can survive.

But every minute delay reduces survival by ten per cent.

NHS England's national target for ambulance response times for different categories were introduced in 2017 for 999 ambulance calls to reach patients.

Category 1 calls are for people with the most life-threatening injuries and illnesses. Targets for these are an average time of seven minutes.

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Category 2 is for emergency calls to be responded to in an average time of 18 minutes.

Using EMAS' own scale of operational pressures, on Sunday the ambulance trust had reached CSP 4 - the highest clinical safety plan level - and a level at which there is a 'potential for failures' within the service.

The CSP 4 was triggered due to a 'high volume of calls waiting for a response as a result of increased demand from 999 and 111 as well as ambulances being busy at acute Accident and Emergency departments'.

Michael Jones, divisional director for Northamptonshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “We are sorry we were unable to attend Mr Marques sooner on this occasion and we recognise the distress this will have caused him and his family.

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“Due to high demand on our service at the time of the call, we didn’t have an ambulance immediately available.

"As part of the national call-handling process, the caller was advised to collect a defibrillator if they knew the location of one, and in line with handling plans for high levels of demand, we advised there may be a wait for an ambulance and discussed the possibility of them making their own way to hospital.

“Fifteen minutes after the first call, we received a second call from the family to cancel the ambulance and let us know they were taking the patient to hospital.

“We are in contact with Mr Marques and his family through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service and will fully investigate the reason for this delay.”

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Every 999 call is assessed based on the information provided by the caller and people experiencing a life-threatening emergency such as cardiac arrest, where a patient isn’t conscious or breathing, have to be seen first.

In February 2022 NHS England's most recent figures show that EMAS categorised 7,172 calls as Category 1 - the average response time was eight mins 56 seconds with the 90th centile (nine out of ten calls) being responded to within 16 mins 18 seconds.

EMAS's website gives advice on when to call the service. It says: "999 is the telephone number you should call when you need emergency medical assistance following a serious accident, illness or injury. For example, in the event of traumatic blood loss, chest pain or loss of consciousness."

It adds: "Life-threatening situations - If the patient’s condition is life-threatening, our technology means that we can instantly pass the information to the nearest available ambulance vehicle so that they can get to the patient as quickly as possible."