Mum died of sepsis after waiting three hours outside hospital in ambulance

Samantha Brousas, 49, was taken to a North Wales emergency department which was 'dangerous and unsafe' due to demand, an inquest heard.

A ‘beloved’ mum-of-two died from sepsis after waiting three hours outside a hospital in an ambulance for treatment.

Samantha Brousas, 49, from Gresford, Wrexham, was admitted to hospital on February 21 with a viral infection following a GP visit after feeling ill for over a month.

After she arrived in an ambulance at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, paramedics were told there were no beds available – despite sepsis being a life-threatening, time-critical illness.

She died from the condition 48 hours after being admitted to the North Wales emergency department which was ‘severely overcrowded’, an inquest at North Wales Coroner’s Court heard.

There was a ‘breakdown in care’ during her stay on a day that the emergency department was ‘dangerous and unsafe’ due to demand, it was said at the inquest.

Paramedics failed to give a ‘pre-alert’ to hospital staff that Ms Brousas was critically ill, leading coroner Joanne Lees to issue a prevention of future deaths report to the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The delay in treating the mother inside the hospital did not cause her death, but paramedics had not followed guidelines in failing to issue the alert, coroner Joanne Lees said in her narrative verdict.

She added that she had been informed that the two other hospitals in the area with emergency departments were also under extreme pressure at the time.

Following the coroner’s verdict, Ms Brousas’s partner Simon Goacher and daughter Sophie Brousas said the ‘complete breakdown in the care that Sam should have received’ was ‘disgraceful’.

In a statement, they said: ‘We all put our trust in the healthcare professionals to provide Sam with the best treatment and we feel that she was let down in the worst possible way.

‘Nothing will bring our beloved Sam back but we urge all those that were involved in her care to learn lessons from what happened to her and work together to make sure that significant changes are made quickly.

‘It is disgraceful that this could have happened and we want to make sure it does not happen to anyone else.’

Stephen Jones, clinical negligence solicitor at law firm Leigh Day, who represented the family, said: ‘The absolute tragedy of this case is that all those healthcare professionals who came into contact with Sam on February 21 recognised at the time that she had sepsis and understood that sepsis is a potentially fatal, time-critical condition.’

Dr Brendan Lloyd, deputy chief executive at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said it accepts the coroner’s conclusion and steps have been taken to improve patient safety.

He added that they had been working with colleagues on the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to reduce the risk of this happening in the future.

A spokesman for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said it also accepts the coroner’s verdict, adding: ‘We know that lessons must be learned.’