Ambulance delays 'contributed' to County Durham man's death in case which saw 'gerrymandered' NHS investigation

By the time paramedics arrived to try to save the life of a County Durham man, “the cause was already lost” because of more than an hour of delays in getting to him. Andrew Edward Watson died due to a quinsy 67 minutes after calling 999 on October 10 2019, an inquest heard.Senior assistant coroner Crispin Oliver told Crook Coroner’s Court that he had found “delays in the response of the ambulance service” had meant “emergency treatment [...] was not delivered in time”. The 32-year-old had been living in supported accommodation in Langley Moor.The coroner also added that he had been “baffled” by the “perverse” situation which meant that because Andrew had called 999 himself, his choking symptoms could not generate a higher priority - category 1 - response. He is now to write to NHS England