SUFFOLK'S need for its own specialist heart attack centre was shown when a heart attack victim died during a rush for treatment last week, it emerged today.
SUFFOLK'S need for its own specialist heart attack centre was shown when a heart attack victim died during a rush for treatment last week, it emerged today.
During yesterday's meetings medics mentioned that a 67-year-old man from Needham Market who died after suffering a serious heart attack on Thursday.
The ambulance service was called at just after 1pm to Quinton Road in the town where the man was suffering chest pains.
He was given clot-busting drugs by paramedics on the way to Ipswich Hospital. However, he did not react well to the drugs and had two cardiac arrests before reaching Heath Road.
When he arrived at the Accident & Emergency department at 2.40pm his condition was stable, but he later became worse.
Hospital staff called for an ambulance again at just before 4pm and just over 15 minutes later one picked the man up and started to drive him to specialist heart hospital Papworth, near Cambridge.
However his condition deteriorated and he was instead taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where he died.
Clinicians have suggested that there were delays in the man's treatment, but a spokeswoman for the ambulance service said she was not aware of any concerns about his care.
Paul Murray from the East of England Ambulance Service said: "The patient was given thrombolysis and went to Ipswich and then was transferred to Papworth many hours after they had thrombolysis. They didn't make it to Papworth.
"There was no delay in terms of a paramedic going with the patient. There was a doubt about whether there was someone from Ipswich who should go with him.
"The patient was at Ipswich Hospital for a number of hours. There could have been good clinical reasons why a patient was in a hospital for that number of hours."
He added that "Professor Boyle's interim solution would mean an event like this wouldn't occur" because patients would be taken directly to a specialist centre, by-passing Ipswich Hospital.
In the end a nurse, paramedic and two technicians made the journey with the patient.
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