The parents of a six-year-old girl who choked to death on a grape drove 100 miles to confront an ambulance chief executive.
Rob and Kathy Lapsley from Anfield took action because they said they were met with a ‘wall of silence’ from NHS bosses following the tragedy while on holiday in north Wales.
They wanted answers to why the ambulance took 25 minutes to reach the unconscious youngster – 17 minutes over the government-approved target time for top-grade emergencies.
On Tuesday Jasmine’s inquest verdict was recorded as an accident and the Welsh Ambulance Service has apologised and said it was studying recommendations from the inquest.
Jasmine Lapsley, 6, who died after choking on a grape in Morfa Nefyn , North Wales
Now the couple have revealed how they were repeatedly hampered in their quest for answers about the ambulance service response on the night Jasmine died in August 2014.
Ex-cabbie Rob, 42, claimed: “We found the ambulance service very defensive, concerned with their own position rather than how it affected us.
“In November 2014, three months after we lost Jasmine in August, was when they first made contact with us.”
He said he was forced to submit a Freedom of Information request to the Welsh Ambulance Service with his questions – and when that went unanswered he complained to the Information Commissioner.
Jasmine Lapsley with her mum Kathy.
Rob added: “Finally, in June, last year, we drove to St Asaph, in north Wales, where the Welsh Ambulance Service’s board meeting was taking place.
“We were getting incredibly frustrated.
“We decided to go and meet them unannounced to put some uncomfortable questions to them.
“When we got there we were taken into a side room with the chairman and chief executive, Tracy Myhill.
“We did actually come away from that conversation feeling more positive, that we were being finally listened to.
“All we wanted to know was everything that happened to our daughter that day.”
Rob and Kathy also hit back over criticism of them on social media, questioning if they acted correctly when Jasmine started turning blue after eating the grape.
Jasmine Lapsley, who died while on holiday.
Mum Kathy, 39, who works for Liverpool council , said: “We’d both done first aid courses before this happened – I’ve done a paediatric course – but nothing was getting that grape out.
“You’re worried about hurting your child, as the back blows and abdominal thrusts were powerful.
“Strong men were doing it, and the grape wouldn’t come back up.
“Because of its shape, it acted like a plug.
“The odds of it happening are shorter than winning the lottery.
“It’s scary how quickly it all happens.”
But despite everything the couple are not considering any further action against the Welsh Ambulance Service and described Tuesday’s accidental verdict as ‘the end of the line.’
Rob added: ““We feel Jasmine was let down.
“An ambulance to take 25 minutes for a small girl choking is far too long. And for 13 minutes to go by before calling the RAF is unacceptable.
“But, we want to draw a line under it now.”
In a statement, Tracy Myhill, Chief Executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We know that there are things we could have done differently, both during and after the event, and for that we are genuinely sorry.
“Whilst we have already made many improvements since Jasmine’s tragic death – like the method we use to treat a child whose airway is compromised – we know that there is still work to do.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/