AN INQUEST ruled there was a “missed opportunity” to send an ambulance sooner on the day of a man’s tragic death.

Coroner Katy Dickinson said the outcome for Eccleshill man Jason Musgrove, who died on October 3 last year from peritonitis due to a perforated ulcer, may have been different if an ambulance had been sent earlier.

The inquest into the 47-year-old dad’s death was held at Bradford Coroners’ Court and heard he had been suffering from abdominal pain and an ambulance was called to his home on October 2.

He was taken to the emergency department at Bradford Royal Infirmary, which was “very busy” and eventually self-discharged over fears he would be waiting hours more to be seen.

Another ambulance attended his home later on and paramedic Mohammed Tahir told the inquest that two sets of observations were carried out and it was thought Mr Musgrove could have kidney stones so should go back to hospital, but he did not want to because of his previous wait.

Mr Tahir told assistant coroner Katy Dickinson that he felt he did everything he should have done, while Steven Dykes, deputy medical director for Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), told the inquest he did not have any concerns about how the paramedic had clinically dealt with the situation.

Mr Musgrove was still unwell the following day, with a call made to 111 at 9.40am.

Giving evidence, Mr Dykes said the call was given a category 3 response, but a review found it potentially should have been a category 2.

The inquest heard this would have meant an ambulance could have got to Mr Musgrove at around 10am.

When asked by the coroner if that would have made a difference to the outcome, Mr Dykes said he thought it was a “possibility”.

That call was passed over to the 999 call centre, then another call in to 999 was received at 10.49am, with Mr Musgrove no longer breathing and not conscious.

That was given a category 1 response and the ambulance arrived at 10.58am. Despite efforts at CPR, both from Mrs Musgrove and paramedics, Mr Musgrove was pronounced dead at his Eccleshill home.

The coroner ruled his medical cause of death was natural, but said: “There was a potential missed opportunity to send a higher category ambulance which may have changed the outcome.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: “First and foremost, our thoughts are with Jason’s family. The Trust has liaised directly with the family and actively contributed to this inquest.

“Learning from this will be used to review our processes moving forward.”