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Clinical Negligence Solicitors

Investigation into ambulance delay in fatal accident in which 16-year-old died (9 February 2015)

Date: 09/02/2015
Duncan Lewis, Clinical Negligence Solicitors, Investigation into ambulance delay in fatal accident in which 16-year-old died

An investigation has been launched into why it took an ambulance more than 25 minutes to reach a badly injured teenager whose scooter had been involved in a collision with a car.

Kyle Lowe, 16, from Eyemouth in Tyne and Wear was involved in the road traffic accident on North Road in Berwick at about 22:00 GMT on Friday, 30 January.

The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene, police confirmed.

After the accident, a man aged 43 was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving. He was released on police bail.

After the crash, police officers also appealed for witnesses to the incident. Sgt Jason Ryder said shortly after the incident:

“We believe the boy was with another male on a scooter shortly before the collision and they had visited McDonald's in Berwick.

“We're keen to hear from anyone who saw them, whether in McDonald's or the surrounding area.”

However, since the crash, questions have been raised as to why it took an ambulance more than 25 minute to reach the scene, when the accident had been flagged up by the emergency services as a Red 2 response – with a target response time of eight minutes.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick, Sir Alan Beith, has raised the matter with the North East Ambulance Service. The ambulance service has confirmed that it is investigating the circumstances of the delayed response.

BBC News reports that ambulance paramedics from Berwick arrived 26 minutes after the original emergency call – and three minutes after the arrival of a community paramedic from Wooler, which is 17 miles (27km) away from the scene of the incident.

Sir Alan campaigned to keep two ambulances in Berwick – although the second emergency vehicle only runs from 10am to 10pm. He said that he had been calling “repeatedly” for an additional emergency base to be situated in Berwick.

“The time it took to get an ambulance in this case underlines the need for that,” Sir Alan said.
“We need to know the full details of how the call to the ambulance service was handled – and what could have been done differently in this very sad case.”

Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors – No win no fee Claims Against Paramedics/strong>

Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors can advise patients who have suffered further injury as a result of delays in ambulance or paramedic response times – or negligent treatment by paramedics or ambulance crews – on how to make a no win no fee claim, including compensation claims relating to:

• Misdiagnosis
• Prescribing errors
• Treatment by paramedics in health centres/surgeries
• Treatment at the scene of an incident
• Triage errors or negligence at hospitals
• Wrong medical treatment.

Clinical negligence claimants have three years in which to make a claim for compensation – and children can claim up to the age of 21 for negligent treatment by paramedics or ambulance crews.

Duncan Lewis can also advise the families of patients who have suffered catastrophic injury or fatal injuries on how to make no win no fee Claims Against Paramedics.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Claims Against Paramedics, call Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors on 020 7923 4020.


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