THE life of a Wrexham man who overdosed on heroin could not have been saved despite failings of the ambulance service, an inquest heard.

Phillip Parry, 55, died at his home address on Tan Y Bryn in Rhos on October 19, 2020.

At County Hall in Ruthin on Wednesday (March 3), an inquest was held in relation to Mr Parry's death.

It heard that he had been a long-standing drug abuser and had taken a combination of drugs, including heroin, on October 19.

A friend of Mr Parry attended his address and communicated with him through his living room window.

Mr Parry was said to be in a state of semi-consciousness, with his face said to be a "yellowy" colour.

Concerned for Mr Parry's welfare, his friend called for an ambulance shortly after 5pm.

A second 999 call was made a short time later - with a control room operator telling Mr Parry's friend that an ambulance would be there "shortly".

The friend then left the address as she needed to get back to Chester, the inquest was told.

An ambulance arrived at the address shortly before 8pm, with the inquest told that the call had been downgraded from highest priority.

Upon attending the address, paramedics saw Mr Parry in a slouched position with his head rested on the living room window sill.

Paramedics kicked down the door of the property and attempted to resuscitate Mr Parry, but were unable to do so - with his death confirmed shortly after 8.30pm.

An internal investigation made by the Welsh Ambulance Service into why the call was downgraded from the highest priority determined that if the call had been kept as a 'red' response (highest priority) and not changed to 'amber' - paramedics could have attended the scene approximately two and a half hours earlier.

But despite the downgraded response, the inquest was told that the control room was given the wrong address by Mr Parry's friend - with paramedics initially attending an address on Tan Y Dre, rather than Tan Y Bryn, at 7.05pm.

The investigation determined that the call response should have remained a 'red' response (immediately life-threatening/someone is in imminent danger of death).

Mr Parry's body was said to be in a state of rigor mortis, with his body temperature at 26.9 degrees centigrade - indicating that Mr Parry had been dead for some time before paramedics arrived.

Bryn Thomas, interim regional clinical lead consultant paramedic for the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust, led the investigation into the ambulance service's response to the incident.

Mr Thomas determined that based on the state of composition of Mr Parry's body, and his body temperature - he approximates that Mr Parry died between two and three hours before he was found.

Therefore, the findings of the investigation were that Mr Parry's life could not have been saved had paramedics attended the scene earlier.

A post-mortem examination into Mr Parry's death found various drugs at levels commonly associated with being toxic, or fatal and ruled that his death had been caused by opiate toxicity and pneumonia.

Recording a conclusion of drug-related death, David Lewis, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, said that he was satisfied with the outcome of the Welsh Ambulance Service's investigation, and said no follow-up investigation was necessary.