THE family of a woman whose liver operation was delayed for four hours because of a wrangle over air ambulances say they are considering taking action to make sure the situation never happens again.

Julie Donaldson, of Barbondale Close, Whittle Hall died in May this year following the operation at St James' Hospital, Leeds.

The critically ill 34-year-old mother of three was kept waiting in Warrington for four hours after Mersey Regional Ambulance boss David Todhunter refused to allow a commercial helicopter to take her from Warrington to Leeds.

He insisted instead that an RAF aircraft was used instead but the nearest RAF helicopter was on manoeuvres in north Wales and had to refuel before picking up the patient.

Mr Todhunter said he was acting in the best interests of the patient and that the delay was a matter of minutes.

But her grieving family refute that claim, saying they waited for more than four hours for her to arrive in Leeds while the problem was sorted out.

The situation hit the national headlines this week when a confidential RAF report was leaked, slamming Mr Todhunter's decision.

And although there is no evidence that Julie's death four days after the operation was anything to do with the delay, the family say they are angry that at no point was the problem explained to them. The first they knew of the real reason for the delay was when it was reported on the television earlier this week.

The report alleges that Mr Todhunter refused to allow the use of a commercial helicopter which was "turning and burning, ready to go", but instead insisted that the RAF take the patient.

It concludes: "Unwarranted delays, in excess of four hours, occurred to the detriment of the patient, as a direct result of obstructive action by the MRAS."

But Mr Todhunter said he denies all the accusations. He said: "If there was any delay, it was only a matter of minutes.

He said: "Sometimes air ambulance work is done through commercial services, but often they cannot fly in the dark. That night there was a dilemma of whether to allow an organisation I didn't know anything about to take the patient, or whether to contact the RAF.

"I am not criticising any commercial operator, but my duty of care means I want the best, and that is the RAF. If the commercial helicopter had taken off with the patient and run into problems, I would have been held accountable."

Julie's husband Robert now lives in Warrington with his parents. His brother, Stuart, who was with him throughout his ordeal, said: "We knew about the delay but we were told there was a technical problem."

He said the family was orginally told that the helicopter carrying Julie would get to Leeds around 8pm, but because of the delay, she didn't actually arrive until after midnight.

Stuart added: "No-one from the hospital or the ambulance service has attempted, at any stage, to contact the family or to put their side to us.

"To see Mr Todhunter appearing on television when he is obviously not prepared to speak to us made us very angry.

"There is a decision to be made now. While we don't consider that the delay caused the outcome to change, we want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone in the future."

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