Karen Ovenell died after an ambulance a few minutes from her home was stood down (Image: Facebook)
A mum died in her sleep hours after an from her home was stood down, in inquest has heard.
Mother of two Karen Ovenell, 43, from Harrietsham, Kent, rang the emergency services after she suffered sharp, shooting pains in her chest.
A 999 call handler but it was then stood down and Ms Ovenell was advised to either go to A&E or contact her GP the next day.
Dad, Arthur Ovenell, 68, has criticised the NHS and ambulance service for cancelling the ambulance, which he insists could have saved her life.
He told Kent Online: “If they had turned up that night she could have stood a chance. I really believe that the ambulance service and NHS let her down.”
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Mr Ovenell said: “She was such a lovely girl. She thought the world of her two sons. We were very close. I miss her so much.”
At an inquest on Tuesday, February 11 assistant coroner James Dillon heard how after Ms Ovenell rang the ambulance service just after midnight on August 16, a Category 2 ambulance crew was dispatched to her home in eight minutes.
Category 2 ambulances are for serious conditions, including strokes, heart attacks and sepsis.
Mr Dillon was told that at 12.37am a call was made to assess if the case needed to be upgraded or could be downgraded in severity.
Evidence from the hearing at Oakwood House heard how the call handler at South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) decided within two minutes of speaking to Ms Ovenell that her symptoms weren’t evidence of a cardiac based and he stood the ambulance down.
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Vikki Lewis, a clinical operations manager at SECAmb, explained how a serious investigation report and audit of the call revealed the handler had made the decision without using the primary and acute care system (PACS) tool to assess Ms Ovenell.
The audit concluded the decision was “unsafe and without based evidence”, according to Kent Online.
The coroner heard that had the paramedics arrived, an ECG would have been carried out, a myocardial infarction would have been spotted and Ms Ovenell would have been taken to hospital.
Clinical supervisor Joshua Aicken-Bowley suggested Ms Ovenell would save time by going to A&E instead of waiting for the ambulance, but she opted for his other suggestion to wait till the next day as she had a young child at home.
She was then advised to try and get some sleep, but told that if her symptoms worsened that she should call 999 or go to A&E. A pathology report gave the cause of death as ischemic heart disease.
Mr Aicken-Bowley told the court he had never seen anyone presenting heart attack symptoms like Ms Ovenell’s.
Asked if an ECG would have detected the problem had the ambulance not been stood down, Mr Aicken-Bowley said: “Yes, probably.”
Darragh Coffey, representing Ms Ovenell’s partner Paul Chimes and her father, told the court SECAmb clinical supervisors making decisions about standing down calls were unable to access GP notes for patients.
Mr Coffey argued it would have been better to let paramedics visit Ms Ovenell’s home and see her in person to assess her.
The trust had 64 calls outstanding on the night of Ms Ovenell’s death and just six ambulances in the area, according to Kent Online.
Since Ms Ovenell’s death, SECAmb has changed how it operates similar calls. A spokesman for the service said: “Our thoughts and condolences are with Ms Ovenell’s family and friends at this difficult time.
“Following a thorough investigation we have taken steps to improve our training and operational processes, shared learning from the incident with our clinicians and, having attended the inquest, will continue to work with the coroner ahead of their findings.”
A tribute on Facebook posted after the inquest reads: “Wow! Shocking! It’s bad regardless but when someone you know… WOW her poor children! Sleep peacefully Karen Ovenell Chimes”.