News

Mother-of-two died ‘because ambulance didn’t get to her on time’, says family

Published

3 months ago

February 8, 2024

A FAMILY has been left grieving after a 40-year-old woman died on New Year’s Eve despite repeated attempts by her 15-year-old daughter to call medical assistance.

Mother-of-two Charlotte Burston knew that her health was rapidly deteriorating on Christmas morning when she began experiencing severe tingling sensations in one of her arms.

But despite repeated attempts to call urgent medical assistance, Charlotte’s daughter’s requests remained unanswered.

**Charlotte Burston: Family say she died after an ambulance failed to reach her in time**

Eventually, as Charlotte’s condition continued to deteriorate, another family member decided to drive to Charlotte’s property in Llanteg and convey her to Withybush General Hospital by car. But shortly after commencing their journey, Charlotte Burston suffered a major heart attack from which she never gained consciousness.

On New Year’s Eve, Charlotte Burston was pronounced dead.

A post mortem concluded that the cause of her death was hypoxic brain injury, which is a lack of oxygen to the brain.

“If an ambulance had got to Charlotte within 15 minutes of Ella’s first call, she’d still be with us today,”said Vincent Laye, the father of Charlotte’s daughters.

“The pain and the grief that this has left us with is beyond explanation.

“Our girls have lost a mother who they relied on and who was their best friend, and the community around Llanteg has lost a woman who was greatly loved. This was shown earlier this week when over 150 people turned out for her funeral.

“The bottom line is that the NHS has failed in providing the care that everyone pays for and that every one of us deserves.”

Charlotte began feeling unwell at around 7am on Christmas Day.

“I called 111 at 8.19am, the call lasted 53 seconds so I hung up because it was taking too long,” explained 15-year-old Ella Laye.

“I then called 999 at 8.29am and the call lasted 41 minutes. The woman I spoke to refused to tell me how long an ambulance would take, but just said that one would be arranged.”

Realising that her mother’s condition was getting worse and worse, Ella then rang her grandfather, who lives in Clynderwen.

“He managed to drive over within around 20 minutes but by now Charlotte was drifting in and out of consciousness,” continued Vincent.

“He managed to get Charlotte into his car and began driving to Withybush. But as they approached Robeston Wathen, he heard her make a gurgling sound and from then on, Charlotte never regained consciousness.”

When they reached Withybush, Charlotte was put onto a life-support system and conveyed to Morriston Hospital. Sadly, she never recovered.

“Just because all this took place on Christmas Day, does it mean that people like Charlotte should be deprived of the medical care they deserve?” continued Vince Laye.

“Our girls have lost a mother who was with them and who cared for them 24/7. Yes, their schools are doing everything they can to help them through this and we’re visiting the Sandy Bear Children’s Bereavement Charity, but absolutely no support is being shown to us by any other authority.

“All I can do is take things hour by hour because I truly believe that this awful death could have been prevented. I really do.

“I don’t know the state of affairs in the NHS across Wales last Christmas morning but if they were severely understaffed through their own mismanagement, then someone has to be held accountable for Charlotte’s death.

“We’ve since discovered that the heart attack was caused by a blood clot that had moved to Charlotte’s heart, but we were also told that the damage this caused could have been treated with medication. What took her life was the lack of oxygen to her brain…in other words, the length of time in which she was left untreated.

“Charlotte has lost her life and the girls have lost their mother. But this isn’t about the pain that we’re currently going through…this is going to continue for years.

“It’s about every other person out there who deserves to be looked after when they are most in need.

“The NHS and the local authority have failed us in a way that’s going to change our lives for ever, and I’m refusing to allow this to be brushed aside. Somebody needs to be held accountable for what’s happened, to prevent this from happening to somebody else.”

Liam Williams, Executive Director of Quality and Nursing at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We were deeply sorry to hear about Ms Burston’s passing and would like to extend our thoughts and condolences to her family on their sad loss.

“A thorough investigation has begun, and we will be contacting Ms Burston’s family to invite them to participate in this process and share their experience, which no doubt will have been traumatic for all involved.

“On behalf of the Welsh Ambulance Service, I would once again like to extend my sympathies to Ms Burston’s family.”

Speaking about delays to patient care earlier this week, The Welsh Ambulance Service’s assistant director of operations Sonia Thompson said: “Our ambulance service is under extreme and well-documented pressure as a result of wider system pressures across the NHS.

“The service is looking at solutions as the current situation is untenable for patients and staff across health and social care.

“As an ambulance service, we’re thinking very differently about the way we deliver services in future, and we are already testing some new ways of working across Wales to understand how we can relieve some of the pressure,” she added.

The Welsh Government has said recently that despite budget pressures, it was investing in same-day emergency care, extra community beds and social care services to improve patient flow through hospitals.

News

Ruling against language campaigner over English-only parking notice

Published

5 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

A COURT in Aberystwyth has this week (May 13) ruled against the language campaigner Toni Schiavone and has allowed parking company One Parking Solution to claim costs in an extended legal dispute over an English-only parking notice. However, Toni Schiavone said he will continue to refuse to pay until he receives a copy of the notice from the parking company in Welsh.

According to the judge, there was no legal basis to force the parking company to provide a Welsh language service. Language campaigners insist that this demonstrates a “serious flaw” in the legislation that protects the rights of Welsh speakers.

Toni Schiavone received the original charge in September 2020 for parking in a private car park in Llangrannog, but refused to pay as he did not receive the charge in Welsh or bilingually, despite sending the company two letters as well as calling them.

The first two cases were thrown out over technical issues, but at a hearing on 26 January this year, One Parking Solution won an appeal to continue to prosecute Mr Schiavone, after the judge ruled that there were no grounds to throw out the first two cases of the court.

Speaking during today’s court proceedings, Toni Schiavone said: “The Welsh language is an official and equal language in Wales and we as Welsh speakers have rights according to the law, and in principle, that should be respected. The request for a Parking Charge Notice in Welsh or bilingually is reasonable and practical. It would have cost around £60 to translate.

“This case could have been resolved very easily and very quickly by providing a Welsh or bilingual Parking Charge Notice. Does not doing so show prejudice against the Welsh language? In my opinion, it does.”

Mr Schiavone told the court that the claimant had behaved threateningly, sending him a letter claiming £10,156.70 in legal expenses a day before his hearing in January as well as another letter with additional costs of over £4,000 two days before today’s case. According to research by Cymdeithas yr Iaith, translating the fine into Welsh would have cost only £60.

The judge Lowri Williams said that Toni had behaved in an “honest, principled” manner during the case, and had shown an “unwavering dedication to the Welsh language and the cause for the language.”

However, she said during her verdict that there was nothing in the 1967 Welsh Language Act, the 1993 Welsh Language Act, or the 2011 Welsh Language Measure to compel the parking company to provide a Welsh language service.

She therefore ordered that Toni pay the £100 charge, as well as £70 for administrative costs, £11.90 interest and £85 for the court fee within 21 days.

After explaining her ruling and order, Toni Schiavone said “I understand, but I refuse to pay.” His statement was met by applause from his supporters in the public gallery.

Following the case, Siân Howys, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s Rights Group, said: “Today’s judgment shows that – despite the Welsh Government’s claim – the Welsh language does not have equal status in Wales. The judge has done her work thoroughly and found that there is nothing in the legislation that ensures that Toni’s right to use his own language in his own country is respected.

“It is clear, therefore, that the Welsh Government needs to correct the serious flaw in the legislation in order to ensure that the people of Wales can use the Welsh language in all aspects of their lives.”

News

Cllr Jon Harvey elected Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council

Published

5 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

CLLR JON HARVEY has been elected as the new Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council.

Cllr Harvey, who represents the Pembroke St Mary North ward, was elected as Leader at the Annual General Meeting of Council held on Friday May 10.

A Town Planner by profession, Cllr Harvey spent 12 years in various Planning Officer roles in Local Government before moving into the private sector and a career at senior level planning, housebuilding and development.

More recently, he was the Head of Development at a Swansea-based Housing Association.

With a love of music and theatre, Cllr Harvey has managed an indie rock band, promoted a number of gigs locally and has staged managed plays including at the Edinburgh fringe.

Married with four grown-up children, Cllr Harvey served as the Cabinet Member for Planning & Housing Delivery under former Leader Cllr David Simpson.

Cllr Harvey, who is not affiliated to any group, was first elected to Council in September 2018.
He said: “I am deeply honoured to stand before you today as your new Leader and the responsibility is not one I take lightly.

“I pledge to lead with passion, dedication, integrity, transparency and compassion.

“I am convinced that if we all work together with common purpose and work towards common goals we can make a real difference to the lives of those residents that we serve.”

Cllr Harvey will name his Cabinet in the coming days.

News

New Chairman takes the chains at Pembrokeshire County Council

Published

5 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE NEW Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council is Cllr Steve Alderman.

Cllr Alderman, previously the Authority’s Vice-Chairman, was installed at the Annual Meeting of Council at County Hall in Haverfordwest held on Friday, 10^th May.

Cllr Alderman, who represents Hundleton, takes over from Cllr Tom Tudor.

Cllr Alderman is well respected in the farming community as a lifelong farmer, working with his family until retiring in 2019.

Cllr Alderman has also been Pembrokeshire NFU County chairman as well as a representative on the Welsh NFU Council and numerous other rural and economic development bodies in the area.

Outgoing Council Leader Cllr David Simpson proposed a vote of thanks to Cllr Tudor who also gave an overview of his busy year as Chairman.

Pictured: Standing, left to right are: Will Bramble, Chief Executive; Cllr Thomas Tudor, former Chairman; Cllr David Simpson, former Leader. Seated front left to right are: Cllr Simon Hancock, Presiding Member; Cllr Jon Harvey, Leader; Cllr Steve Alderman, Chairman; Cllr Maureen Bowen, Vice Chair; Mrs Chris Simpson, wife of Cllr David Simpson.

Cllr Alderman was nominated by Cllr Tim Evans and seconded by Cllr Pat Davies.

Cllr Alderman, who was first elected in 2019, is not affiliated to any group on the Council.

Upon taking the chains, Cllr Alderman said: “I am extremely proud to be made Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council and I aim to represent this Council to the very best of my ability.

“I hope my experience as Council appointed member of the National Park, as well as the various Overview and Scrutiny Committees I am involved in, will stand me in good stead for this important year ahead.”

At the same meeting Cllr Maureen Bowen was elected the new Vice Chairman of Council.

Cllr Bowen, who represents Pembroke Dock Bush and is a member of the Labour Group, joined the Council in 2022.