Pensioner, 65, slowly bled to death after it took paramedics more than two-and-a-half hours to get him to hospital following a fall
Richard Hansbury was given a Code Red dispatch after smashing his head in a fall ... but overstretched medics couldn't reach him
A PENSIONER bled to death after it took overstretched paramedics two-and-a-half-hours to get him to hospital.
Richard Hansbury, 65, smashed his head in a fall and emergency services were alerted when neighbours heard him crying for help.
Despite a Code Red dispatch — meaning he should have received help in under eight minutes — it took crews over an hour to reach him at his sheltered accommodation in Wigan.
They needed to call in another crew to help transport Mr Hansbury, who weighed 19-stone, to hospital.
But North West Ambulance Service operators said there were none available at that time, meaning it was a further hour and 42 minutes until he arrived at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.
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Three hours and three heart attacks later Mr Hansbury died due to his severe blood loss, the .
His distraught sister Rosaline Fox, 66, said she was "absolutely appalled", telling the paper: "It’s barbaric that Richard died that way.
"The bottom line is that if the ambulance service had arrived in any sort of reasonable time my brother would still be alive today."
North West Ambulance Service said it was investigating, with a spokesperson adding that there was high demand on the evening of October 3 when Mr Hansbury fell.
An inquest into his death will take place on Friday.
News of Mr Hansbury's death comes after NHS Trusts were found to be offering up to £10,000 in sign-on bonuses to recruit new paramedics.
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