image source, Pahar Family/Field Fisher
Jasbir Pahar, 44, suffered a stroke in the early hours of November 13, 2022 and passed away on November 30.
- author, tom airey
- role, BBC Yorkshire
- Reporter wakefield
Emergency services have apologized to the family of a 44-year-old woman who had to wait 72 minutes for paramedics to reach her, who later died of a stroke.
Huddersfield teacher assistant Jasbir Pahar died in November 2022 after suffering a “massive” stroke in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Her inquest at Wakefield Coroner’s Court heard that Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) was under “severe pressure” at the time.
Ambulance management denied any missed opportunities led to the delay.
image source, Pahar Family/Field Fisher
Mrs Pahar and her husband Satinder had been married for 23 years when she died.
The coroner said Pahar’s husband woke up in the early hours of November 13 after his wife fell out of bed.
The mother of four noticed symptoms of a stroke, including facial drooping, and called 999.
James Goulding, clinical response and governance manager at YAS, said that at the time of the call, “demand exceeded available resources.”
The hearing heard that this was because the ambulance had to wait longer than necessary at the hospital.
He told the inquest the stroke was recorded as a category two case, meaning a “potentially life-threatening emergency”, with only category one cases being more serious.
“Everyone who was previously deployed was in a Category 1 or 2 level emergency,” Golding said.
“The first chance they had was when the ambulance left for Mrs. Pahal.”
The coroner’s office heard that an air ambulance was not available at the time of the call and dispatchers were responding “to the best of their ability”.
image source, Habiloid/Geograph
Mrs Pahal was taken to Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax (pictured) and then to Leeds General Hospital.
In Pahar’s case, the ambulance’s arrival time was four times the target response time.
Mr Golding went on to say: “I am extremely disappointed that I was not able to respond to Mrs Pahal sooner and I sincerely apologize.”
At a preliminary hearing, her family said they were told by staff at Calderdale Royal Hospital that the clot-dissolving drug Clotbuster would take too long.
The potentially life-saving procedure, called mechanical thrombectomy, was not available on site outside of the hours of 08:00 and 15:00, Monday to Friday.
Mrs Pahal arrived at Leeds General Hospital around nine hours after the initial 999 call, but her condition worsened further.
She died on November 30, the coroner said.
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust said it would issue a statement after the inquest concluded.
