An inquest has been opened into the death of a County Durham man which the North East Ambulance Service is accused of trying to cover up.

Andrew Edward Watson was 32-years-old when he died on October 10, 2019, at a supported living facility in Langley Moor.

Staff called 999 when he was having trouble breathing, his throat was swollen, and he had been vomiting blood.

After 57 minutes paramedics were yet to arrive and staff called again for an ambulance when he became “unresponsive”. The call was reprioritised and medics arrived in 10 minutes but Mr Watson was pronounced dead a short time later, despite attempts to save his life.

An internal ambulance service report said it is likely he "would have benefited from earlier treatment ", and the delay getting to him was "likely" to have contributed to his death.

The details of that report were leaked to The Sunday Times in 2022 by a whistleblower who alleged the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) had attempted to cover-up deaths.

North East Ambulance Service.(Image: NORTHERN ECHO) Mr Watson’s case was one of six featured in the leaked report, which detailed how coroners were “not being made aware of concerns and/or investigations being carried out by the trust in a timely fashion” after patients died.

The Echo understands that despite the coroner investigating after Mr Watson’s death five years ago, information about delays reaching him was not disclosed and the coroner was not made aware of an internal investigation by NEAS.

Last Thursday (November 14) an inquest was opened and adjourned by Senior Assistant Coroner for Durham and Darlington Crispin Oliver at Crook Coroners’ Court.

A pre-inquest review will take place in February ahead of a full hearing.

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The leaked report, known as the Audit One report, reveals the paramedic who attended raised concerns the next day about the delay and a “potential missed opportunity” in recognising the extent of Mr Watson’s illness.

Ambulance bosses decided that the 67-minute delay should only be classed as causing moderate harm despite the earlier suggestion treatment could have increased Mr Watson’s chance of survival.

NEAS wrote to the coroner in May 2020 apologising for failing to disclose full information about the case previously and is understood to have submitted shift reports, a dispatch report, staffing reports and audio records, according to reports in The Times.