Maddy Lawrence inquest: UWE student waited five hours for ambulance

An inquest into the death of a student rugby player has heard it took more than five hours for an ambulance to arrive after she was injured.

Maddy Lawrence, 20, lay on the ground while waiting to go to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, after dislocating her hip in a University of the West of England rugby match on 9 March 2022.

She died two weeks later on 25 March with an infection in intensive care.

An inquest into Ms Lawrence's death is due to continue for two weeks.

During the inquest's opening day at Avon Coroner's Court, evidence from physiotherapist Paul Tompkins was heard. He was providing pitch-side medical support when Ms Lawrence was hurt.

He said it was clear Ms Lawrence had suffered a "nasty injury" from a tackle and play was moved to a different pitch so she could be helped.

Four calls between Mr Tompkins and the emergency services were then played, with Ms Lawrence's cries and screams heard in the background.

The first call was made at 15:24 GMT, about 15 minutes after she was hurt. Mr Tompkins told the operator Ms Lawrence was in a "lot of pain", cold, and could not be moved.

The call handler informed him: "We are very busy at the moment" and said it could be several hours before an ambulance got to her.

After further calls at 16:45 and 17:50, a paramedic phoned Mr Tompkins at 18:05. When he asked whether the student's pain was mild, moderate or severe, Mr Tompkins replied: "Ten out of ten." The ambulance arrived at 20:30.

The quality lead for the South Western Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST), Caroline Tonks, told the inquest the trust had taken more than 300 calls in an hour for ambulances on the day Maddy was injured, with 54 in the greater Bristol area.

The average response time was nine hours for urgent but non life-threatening incidents, known as Category 3 cases.

She said Ms Lawrence should have been seen by ambulance crews by 17:18.

Ms Tonks said she was satisfied the clinical priority given to Ms Lawrence, given the demands on the service, was appropriate.

Addressing Ms Lawrence's family after her evidence, she said: "Maddy absolutely needed an ambulance and I'm truly sorry that we weren't able to help her when she needed it most so I'd like to offer an apology."

In a written statement, Ms Lawrence's father Simon Lawrence said his daughter had initially been in good spirits in hospital before her condition worsened.

He told the inquest his daughter felt senior nurses thought she was making "a big deal of the pain".

Ms Lawrence was moved to intensive care after she began hallucinating and her leg was amputated.

"We hoped and prayed she would recover. This didn't happen," Mr Lawrence said.

He described her as a "wonderful daughter and sister" who was looking forward to life and was a "loving, warm, understanding girl who loved sport and tried so hard to reach her potential".

The inquest is examining the response of SWAST, how Ms Lawrence was cared for at Southmead Hospital, and how her signs of infection were assessed and monitored.

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