Stroke patient was involved in ambulance crash en route to hospital

A stroke patient, who died last year, was involved in an ambulance crash on her way to hospital, a court has heard.

Christine Lafferty, 70, was being transported to hospital for a suspected stroke on 1 February 2022 when the emergency vehicle collided with a car in Sheffield Road, Conisbrough.

An inquest on Tuesday concluded the collision did not contribute towards Ms Lafferty's death three days later.

Doncaster Coroners' Court heard she died of a brain bleed.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has since apologised to Ms Lafferty's family for "the additional anguish" the accident may have caused.

The inquest was told Ms Lafferty had previously been treated for a brain lesion in 2012 and had been prescribed an anti-clotting drug.

On 1 February 2022, emergency services were called to her home in Conisbrough after Ms Lafferty began to present with "stroke-like" symptoms.

Assistant coroner Abigail Combes heard the mother-of-two had been suffering from a severe headache, slurred speech, blurry vision and facial paralysis.

Paramedics said upon arrival, Ms Lafferty appeared agitated and distressed, resulting in the decision being made to not use shoulder straps after placing her on a stretcher.

On the way to Doncaster Royal Infirmary, the ambulance was then involved in a crash shortly before 11:00 GMT.

The coroner heard the blue-lighted emergency vehicle, which had also activated its siren, collided with a blue Mercedes when attempting to overtake it.

Forensic pathologist Dr Philip Lumb, said Ms Lafferty suffered a number of facial injuries and bruising as well as a fractured vertebra.

He told Ms Combes: "These injuries that I saw wouldn't be sufficient to cause or contribute towards her death."

In his report, he recorded Ms Lafferty died due to a bleed in her brain.

In the opinion of Dr Lumb and stroke consultant Dr Peter Anderton, the delay in getting Ms Lafferty to hospital following the collision did not impact her chances of survival.

Both medical professionals agreed the brain bleed was so significant, it was not survivable.

Dr Anderton, who works at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, told the court: "Given the severity of the bleed and on the balance of probabilities, it would've proven fatal however quickly she would've come to hospital."

Ms Combes concluded Ms Lafferty died on 4 February 2022 after suffering a spontaneous bleed on the brain three days before.

"The road traffic collision did not contribute to her death," Ms Combes added.

In a statement released following her death last year, Ms Lafferty's family described her as "fun-loving, beautiful and loved by anyone who knew her".

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said work has since been undertaken to update its policies and in addition to further training on seatbelt use and vehicle safety.

A spokesperson said: "We would like to express our heartfelt sympathy to Christine Lafferty's family following her death in February 2022.

"Although it was concluded that the road traffic collision did not cause Christine Lafferty's sad death, we would like to sincerely apologise for the additional anguish experienced following the accident which occurred during her transfer to hospital by emergency ambulance."

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