A PATIENT died at a Worcestershire hospital after being left inside an ambulance. 

The patient died after a five hour wait in the back of a vehicle at Worcestershire Royal earlier this month.

The BBC reported the patient was rushed to A&E and taken to a resuscitation room.

Despite this, the patient then went into cardiac arrest and died.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust and West Midlands Ambulance Trust have now launched an investigation into what happened.

A joint statement from both trusts said: "We are aware of an incident where a patient died shortly after being taken into the Emergency Department of Worcestershire Royal Hospital on October 5.

"We have launched a joint investigation into the circumstances.

"While that investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to say anything further at this stage, other than to express our condolences to the patient’s family, who are being kept fully informed."

Waiting times at the hospital have been an issue for some time, with waits of several hours regularly being reported.

On October 26, 71.9 per cent of patients were being seen within four hours, slightly behind the nationwide target.

A Care Quality Commission survey carried out last year found most patients were happy with their treatment while staying at the trust's hospitals.

More than 600 adults who had stayed overnight as an inpatient between July and November 2020 took part in the survey.

Of these: 98 per cent said that they were treated with dignity and respect, 98 per cent said that they had confidence in doctors and nurses and 84 per cent rated their overall experience as 7 out of 10 or above.

Results also improved in a number of areas, compared to 2019, including patients getting enough help to eat their meals (89 per cent), patients being given enough notice about when they would be leaving hospital (91 per cent), and there always or sometimes being enough nurses (94 per cent).

Meanwhile, the most recent Use of Resources report by the CQC, published in 2019, ruled the trust was "inadequate".

The trust's overall rating remains "requires improvement" according to the CQC.