A CORONER will write to the government about ambulance waiting times in Barrow after an inquest heard their response to a man found unresponsive fell outside of standards for a category one emergency. 

The North West Ambulance Service's total response time was 28 minutes after Cumbria Police officers made a call when they found Jamie Roberts in his home in Bath Street on the night of October 3 2022.

Category one calls are for people with life-threatening injuries and illnesses. The court heard the time should be no more than 27 minutes. 

Police officers took turns giving chest compressions to Mr Roberts while they waited for paramedics to arrive, the inquest heard.

Craig Smith, assistant coroner sitting at Cumbria's Coroners Court in Cockermouth, ruled the wait time was not a contributing factor to Mr Robert's death.

He referred to NWAS's serious incident report to determine his conclusions. 

The report set out that overstretched ambulance resources are further hampered by the time paramedics have to wait to deliver patients to A&E.

The court heard most of the delay was caused by NWAS trying to find a crew not already responding to other calls and that an ambulance responded quickly once a free one was found. 

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He said: "I have not found that the delay played any contributing role in Jamie's death although there is a risk of death occurring in a wider context. The report provides a very clear investigation. I am satisfied that learning points have been identified.

"I am satisfied that [Morecambe Bay Trust] has identified the issue. I am very sympathetic of the trust's position. They are trying to provide the best they can do. This is a question needed to be addressed at the level of government - I am writing a letter to the secretary of state with my concerns." 

The death of 34-year-old Mr Roberts also led to an Independent Office for Police Conduct report. His ex-partner Emma Brewley, who Mr Roberts contacted in the hours before his death, thought that the police had not taken his case seriously enough. 

Mr Smith was satisfied that the police had done all they could, given that Mr Roberts had told them to go away in an earlier welfare check before they received another call from Ms Brewley telling them she had received messages indicating he was going to kill himself. Other than a GP assessment in 2019, Mr Roberts had no prior involvement with mental health services, the hearing heard.

Mr Smith was not able to determine if Mr Robert's death had been suicide or a cry for help gone wrong as an inquest needs to establish motive to rule a death as suicide. He died in Furness General hospital from his injuries on October 4 at 9.10am. 

Mr Smith called the father-of-two's death 'tragic' and gave his condolences to the family, who were present in the court.