The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) have apologised after a woman died following a false declaration of death and waking up in Darlington Hospital.

The woman in her 50s was declared dead by paramedics from the NEAS before being taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Remarkably, she woke up at the hospital but it has since been confirmed that she has sadly died.

Durham Police have now announced that they have opened an investigation into the "unexpected death".

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The North East Ambulance Service confirmed that their review into the incident will be sent to the coroner.

Andrew Hodge, Director of Paramedicine at North East Ambulance Service, said: “As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we contacted the patient’s family and launched a review into the circumstances.

“The paramedics on scene were faced with a complex clinical case and we are working closely with our partners and other agencies involved to understand the full picture of what happened. Until this review is completed, we cannot comment further.

 “We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused to the family and have sent them our condolences during this time. We are supporting them as well through this process.

“The colleagues involved are also being supported appropriately.

“Our review of this incident will of course be shared with the coroner and the police, acting upon the coroner’s direction, to determine what happened.”

Durham Police released a statement confirming that a post-mortem will be carried out shortly.

A spokesperson said: "Officers are investigating following the death of a woman in her 50s.

"The death is currently being treated as unexpected and a post-mortem will be carried out shortly."

This comes months after the NEAS were slammed in a report carried out by Dame Marianne Griffiths, a former hospital boss.

The report described a series of failings at the service and the way whistle-blowers were treated.

It read: "Both this investigation and previous reports have found a number of failings in how the Trust should have responded to the incidents and then in their response to concerns about how failings were accepted and followed up.

"It is important that the Trust formally and publicly reiterates that there have been failings and restates its wholehearted apologies to the families concerned.

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"Leadership dysfunction was allowed to continue for far too long and this had a major impact on how teams within different directorates operated.

"A defensiveness grew and affected team operations, transparency, candour and judgement. They also clearly impacted the health and wellbeing of staff."

The independent review highlighted the tragic case of 17-year-old Quinn Beadle, from Shildon, who was found dead in woodland near her home, and a NEAS paramedic who declared her dead rather than trying to perform CPR.