A MAN died after a 999 call was 'inappropriately downgraded' and a satellite navigation failure led to a 45-minute delay in the ambulance arriving.

The patient died at the scene after a series of failures by the Scottish Ambulance Service, an investigation found.

Call handlers are said to have logged the call as chest pain rather than cardiac arrest in error then a satellite navigation failure contributed to a delay in paramedics reaching the patient.

An inquiry also found that a Community First Responder (CFR), who could have saved his life, did not show as available due to software and systems failures and was not sent to the scene.

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The sister of the patient, who has not been identified or the area where he is from, made a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) and it was upheld in full.

The report was also critical of the length of time crews performed cardiopulmonary rescusitation (CPR).

The ambulance service carried out its own internal clinical review and found that the call had been inappropriately downgraded from a cardiac arrest to chest pain category.

"It was identified that a satellite navigation failure contributed to the delay in the ambulance arriving. It was also noted that a CFR was not showing as available due to software and systems issues, and was therefore not used."

The ambulance service has been told to issue an apology to the patient's sister on the grounds, "that SAS were unable to utilise a CPR due to software/systems issues; that a satellite navigation system failure added to the ambulance response time; and that the ambulance crew failed to take steps to determine with more accuracy the facts of the cardiac arrest, in order to support the decision-making process prior to the cessation of resuscitation."

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It was also ordered to take steps to ensure call handlers are able to source community responders and revise guidelines to ensure emergency calls are accurately categorised.

The SPSO said: "SAS should confirm they have a suitable organisational back-up system in place for directing crews to an incident in the event of a failure of satellite navigation systems."

"We have asked the organisation to provide us with evidence that they have implemented the recommendations we have made on this case by the deadline we set."