A MAN died after he had waited an hour to be seen at hospital and later had a seizure on a hospital trolley, an inquest heard today.

Daniel Day, of Margaret Leckie Court, Walcot, died on October 27, 2014, at the Great Western Hospital.

Mr Day, 34, a former scaffolder, had collapsed outside Co-operative in Sussex Square, hitting his head. He was cold, lethargic and also began vomiting up a blood-like fluid.

The coroner’s court heard that Mr Day had alcohol dependent syndrome and had one case of self poisoning in 2011.

After he was taken to the Great Western Hospital just before 3pm he suffered respiratory arrest while on a trolley waiting to be seen for treatment. He later went into cardio respiratory arrest before he died later that day.

South Western Ambulance Service Trust paramedic Martyn Charity said Mr Day was initially stable until he arrested 40 minutes into the wait.

“He started deteriorating when we were in there, so we conducted observations all of the time, just watching him. It was busy in the department," said Mr Charity.

“He suddenly became all purpley in the face, he went rigid and he lay straight. I immediately asked for assistance because I could see he was having a seizure.”

His supervisor Lorraine Giles said she asked for assistance when Mr Day went into respiratory arrest, but no-one responded.

“He was slurring his speech, he was coughing up a red brownish substance," she said.

"We couldn’t understand what he was saying, all we got was that he wanted a drink, he kept asking for a drink so I got him some water.

“When Martyn said he had arrested I called for help, and nobody came. There was a number of medical professionals waiting around but nobody responded when I asked for help.

“Then they told us to get him into a cubicle which was unusual not to have a doctor present with us.”

Mr Day was recorded as having high blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar levels at the scene of his collapse, which paramedics believed at the time could have been alcohol related.

Sheena Sparkes, operations officer at SWAST, saw Mr Day while he was waiting on the trolley.

She said she immediately voiced her concerns due to her previous history with him.

“I knew him from previous meetings and that was the worst he had ever looked. I escalated it to whoever I could think of, because in my clinical opinion he looked like he was very sick,” she said.

A post-mortem examination found “therapeutic amounts” of drugs used to deal with alcohol withdrawal and anxiety and depression in Mr Day’s system. The cause of death was listed as unnatural due to drug toxicity.

Senior ward sister Laurie Street said it was a priority to see emergency department patients as quickly as possible, and Mr Day's observations had not flagged up concerns with hospital staff.

“We had dissolved the queues in the run up to Daniel being brought in but they had started to fill up again just before he arrived at 3pm," she said.

"There were patients sat waiting, all the cubicles were full and we also had eight patients who needed space. Until we can take the patients, they remain in the care of paramedics,” she said.

“The emergency department would have wanted to have facilitated patients being seen as quickly as we could but unfortunately there was a delay.

“It was told to me once by paramedics that they felt Daniel was unwell. His observations were stable, and there was no cause for concern that would have highly prioritised being moved up the list.

“He was active, he was holding a vomit bowl in front of him and he was alert and moving around.”

Mr Day was recorded as having high blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar levels at the scene of his collapse, which paramedics attributed to alcohol intoxication.

The court heard that two full observations were carried out during Mr Day's time in the emergency department, with further checks halted by his “agitated” behaviour.

Dr Patricia Monteiro treated Daniel when he came into the resuscitation area. She said further treatment could have been given to him while he was waiting but she was unsure of its effectiveness.

“We could have cannulated him, but with the response that we got in resus I am not sure that that would have made any difference to his condition,” she said,

Dr Monteiro said since October 2014 significant changes had been brought in to ease the pressure on the emergency room and ensure patients could be seen faster.

“There are now two sisters on the ward, instead of putting the entire department on one person’s shoulders. We now also keep two cubicles free so we can see patients within 15 minutes wherever possible.”

A police search of Mr Day’s house found bloody “vomit type substance” on the floor along with a bottle of “Liquid Gold”, or poppers.

Police also spoke to a witness who said he accompanied Mr Day the day before his death when he went to buy stimulant drug mephedrone.

South Western Ambulance Trust also said they had completed a report with the hospital to ensure that escalation procedures were interlinked.

The inquest will continue tomorrow, with a conclusion expected to be delivered by assistant coroner for Swindon & Wiltshire Ian Singleton.