Heather Parkhill

I am John Adrian Gittins, Senior Coroner for North Wales (East and Central)

On the 9 th of April 2025, I commenced an investigation into the death of Heather Louise Parkhill (DOB 8.8.85 DOD 8.4.25). The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on the 29 th of  January 2026. The cause of death was recorded as being due to 1(a) Fatty Liver Disease and  the conclusion of the inquest was as follows: Narrative Conclusion : Heather Parkhill was verified dead at her home on the morning of the 8th of April 2025, more than fifteen hours after an initial 999 call was made to seek assistance for  her. Her death was the result of a terminal event arising from a condition associated with the  chronic excessive consumption of alcohol, but it is probable that the death would have been  prevented by earlier medical intervention, although none was available. The deceased’s death  was ultimately alcohol related but contributed to by neglect.

The circumstances of the death are that at 20.41 on the 7 th of April 2025 a 999 call was made  seeking the assistance of the ambulance service to Mrs Parkhill, however there were no  resources available for deployment at that time. A screening review was conducted at 21.27  which resulted in the erroneous downgrading of the priority of the call. Further calls were made  seeking help on the morning of the 8 th of April at 06.49, 07.04, 07.39, 08.33 and 09.37 however due to resource issues, no ambulance was able to attend during this period. At 10.41 a final call resulted in the highest category priority and the first responder was on scene seven minutes later. Resuscitation efforts were discontinued around one hour later, more than  fifteen hours after the first call for assistance. Evidence was given to the inquest indicating that an earlier response (even 20-30 minutes earlier) would probably have prevented this death.

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed the following matter giving rise to  concern. In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you. The MATTER OF CONCERN is as follows. For many years, myself and other coroners have raised concerns regarding so called  “ambulance delays” and I recognise that the challenges faced by WAST around the availability of resources are the result of multifactorial issues, however problems regarding the unavailability of  resources persist. I have a mandatory statutory responsibility to raise concerns where they exist  and it is clear that lives continue to be lost as a result of this problem. Despite all of the multi-agency efforts to improve the availability of resources and hence  response times, nothing appears to change I therefore remain concerned that lives continue to be at risk .

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action.