The Welsh Ambulance Service is investigating claims that a woman who was stabbed and later died was told she would have to wait hours for an ambulance.
Eleanor Barnfield, 47, from Bridgend, died from injuries sustained in a suspected stabbing. She is thought by people in the community to have tried to drive herself to hospital after being stabbed. Severely injured, she crashed her car and was found dead at the scene.
Ambulance service response
The ambulance service issued a statement on Thursday afternoon saying it had not identified any calls requesting an ambulance from Ms Barnfield's phone numbers before the crash but was trying to establish if the call had been made from another number.
It said: "Following preliminary investigations by the Welsh Ambulance Service, the Trust has been unable to identify any calls from Eleanor Barnfield’s phone numbers. Enquiries are ongoing to establish if any calls were received by other means."
Earlier on Thursday, it had hit out at speculation online, saying rumours on social media were "contradictory" and "factually untrue".
Details of the incident
The ambulance service statement said it took seven minutes to respond to the call following reports of a road traffic collision on Coity Road, Bridgend - the crash in which Ms Barnfield was found dead. However, the statement only referred to the call it received after the road traffic collision.
Ms Barnfield, who worked for housing association Valleys to Coast, died after being found seriously injured in a crashed car on Monday, October 19. Her sustained injuries were unrelated to the collision and it is believed that she was stabbed.
A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. The attack is believed to have happened at a retirement complex managed by Valleys to Coast housing on Monday morning.
Tributes and ongoing enquiries
Ms Barnfield is thought to have been injured and trying to drive to the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, around 1.5 miles from the Ger-y-Nant complex when she crashed. People in the town have claimed she was told an ambulance would be a long wait, reportedly up to three hours, before deciding to drive to hospital herself.
There have been widespread tributes to Ms Barnfield. Her employer Valleys to Coast said she was a valued colleague whose death had devastated her colleagues. Her family said: "Mum was the kindest, most loving, bravest person in the world. She meant everything to us and will be forever loved and missed deeply by her devoted family and friends. She was our rock."
Friends on social media said she was a "wonderful woman who would do anything for anyone". Another friend said: "I still can’t get my head around this! You didn’t deserve this you had such a beautiful soul. Absolutely heartbreaking."
The full ambulance service statement issued on Thursday morning read: "We were called on Monday (19 October) at approximately 12:44pm, to reports of a road traffic collision on Coity Road, Bridgend. A Cymru High Acuity Response Unit arrived on scene seven minutes after the initial call at 12:51pm, with two emergency ambulances arriving to provide additional support at 13:07pm and 13:13pm. Advanced critical care support was delivered by the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service who arrived in a Wales Air Ambulance charity helicopter. The patient was conveyed by road to hospital. We are aware that contradictory and misleading rumours regarding a delayed ambulance response have been circulating on social media. These are factually untrue and we would encourage members of the public not to speculate."
WalesOnline asked if the service had previously received a call before the car crash requesting an ambulance for Ms Barnfield. At the time of publication, the service had not responded.
