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An external reviewer is set to be commissioned to review the case of the two paramedics found guilty of failing to provide "reasonable" care to a man who later died, a pre-inquest hearing has heard.
A pre-inquest review hearing into the death of Frazer Irvine took place this morning.
Tom Le Sauteur (36) and John Sutherland (60) were found guilty of a health and safety breach in relation to their care of Mr Irvine before his death.
The 39-year-old patient, who called an ambulance in March 2022 when he was suffering the effects of an overdose, later died of cardiac and respiratory arrest.
Le Sauteur and Sutherland appeared in the Court of Appeal this week to challenge the two-year conditional discharge handed down to them earlier this year.
Their appeal failed, with judge Adrian Fulford concluding that the original verdict was "supported by evidence" and found that there were "no other grounds to conclude there has been a miscarriage of justice".
The pre-inquest hearing into Mr Irvine's death was able to take place today following the conclusion of criminal proceedings.
At the hearing, it was announced that an external independent reviewer is due to be commissioned to carry out a review within the next few weeks.
Advocate Sylvia Roberts – representing the Home Affairs Minister, who has responsibility for emergency services in Jersey – said that the investigation is at a very early stage, so it is difficult to give a timeframe as to when it will be concluded.
The full inquest into Mr Irvine's death is set to take place in June 2025.
The purpose of an inquest is not to apportion blame or liability, but to confirm how death occurred. The main questions that need to be answered are who the deceased person was, where the death happened, when the death happened, and how the deceased died.
Occasionally, coroners will use inquest findings to offer advice or recommendations as to where improvements could be made going forward to prevent further deaths.
At the pre-inquest hearing today, the coroner confirmed that the key issues raised from Mr Irvine's death regarded ambulance policy – including the use of personal protective equipment, airway management policy, the assembling of resuscitation equipment, and the policies surrounding police back-up.
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