Young NI woman 'dies waiting for an ambulance

She died on Saturday night after collapsing when walking home from a night out with friends.

According to the BBC the woman who died 'had been waiting for paramedics from Belfast due to a shortage of crews in the Southern area'.

BBC News NI reported that they understand that after dialling 999, her friends were told there would be a considerable wait as there was not an available crew.

The ambulance service told the BBC that it regretted that levels of cover fell below what was "planned and anticipated".

A Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) spokesman said the Southern division had been particularly affected.

It took paramedics about 45 minutes to travel from Belfast to Newry, a journey of about 38 miles.

But by the time they arrived, the woman had died.

It was the early hours of Sunday.

Sinn Féin's Liz Kimmins has said the tragic death of a woman in Newry in the early hours has shocked the local community.

She said: "I wish to extend my sympathies to the family and the friends of the young woman who died in tragic circumstances in Newry on Sunday.

“This tragedy has shocked the local community and a family has been left heartbroken.

“It’s deeply concerning that this young woman died while waiting on an ambulance coming from Belfast due to huge shortages in the Southern Trust.

“Without an urgent intervention to tackle the lack of Ambulance staff, this crisis will continue to get worse.

“The Department of Health must immediately step in and support our health trusts by putting in place the necessary resources to keep our ambulances on the road.”

And, according to the BBC, Catherine Farrell, from the union Unison, said it was an "extremely sad story" and extended her sympathy to the woman's family.

She said the pressures that staff were under in the health service were "considerable" and were "getting worse day on day".

"Forty-five minutes is not an unreasonable time to get from Belfast, but for someone that was in need of care at that particular moment, they needed something quicker than that," she added.

In a statement to the News Letter a NIAS spokesman said: "The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service would like to apologise sincerely and offer our condolences to the family and friends of the patient, in Newry, who passed away in the early hours of Sunday 10 April while awaiting the arrival of an ambulance which was despatched from Belfast.

NIAS regrets that, on the evening of Saturday 9 April, levels of ambulance cover fell below those which had been planned and anticipated, with the Southern Division particularly impacted.

The planned level of resource in Southern Division on Saturday night is 10. On Saturday night only 3 crews were available at the commencement of the shift and this was further depleted by 1 due to onset of illness. Both remaining crews were not available to respond as they were waiting to handover patients at Craigavon ED.

As NIAS manages the service on a regional basis with the closest available ambulance responding to the next most clinically urgent call, crews from other divisions will have responded to calls in the Southern division.

NIAS had 3 A&E support crews and one Independent ambulance crew available to complement the emergency crews. A&E support and independent crews are despatched to lower acuity calls to protect the A&E resource for the most serious and urgent waiting calls.

NIAS would further apologise to all patients and their carers for any delays experienced as a result of reduced cover.

SDLP Newry & Armagh MLA Justin McNulty has spoken of the heartbreaking death of a young woman in Newry over the weekend.

He said the young woman fell after leaving a local bar at the end of a night out with her friends. She died whilst waiting for an ambulance to arrive from Belfast, with a shortage of crews in the Southern Trust Area.

Mr McNulty said: “I am deeply mindful of the fact that a family is in shock and are mourning the sudden loss of their loved one. It is vital that the family are given the space they need to grieve.

“This should never have been allowed to happen and I can’t begin to imagine what they are going through. This is every family’s worst nightmare. I want to offer my condolences to her family and friends.

“I reiterate my call for the privacy of the family to be respected and upheld at this extremely difficult time.”