Ambulance Trust Apologises After Patient Declared Dead Wakes Up in Hospital
In a shocking incident, an ambulance trust has issued an apology after a patient who was declared "dead," miraculously woke up in a hospital. The incident occurred when the individual was rushed to Darlington Memorial Hospital in County Durham last Friday having been declared dead earlier that day, following an undisclosed incident. The patient's identity and current condition remain undisclosed.
The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) has expressed deep regret over the distress caused to the patient's family and initiated an inquiry into this extraordinary situation. NEAS Director of Paramedicine, Andrew Hodge, acknowledged the gravity of the situation, saying, "As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we opened an investigation and contacted the patient's family. We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused them."
This incident has raised concerns as it follows previous criticisms faced by NEAS. Just last year, NEAS faced backlash and offered unreserved apologies to bereaved relatives after it was revealed that they had covered up mistakes made by paramedics when responding to patients who later died. The chief executive of NEAS had publicly apologised after a report was exposed that managers had removed information from incident reports. A review led by Dame Marianne Griffiths in July identified "significant cultural and behavioural issues" within NEAS. It pointed out that leadership dysfunction had persisted for too long and had a major impact on operations, transparency and judgement. The organisation apologised for any distress caused following the reports publication.
