Matt Geary, 37, wrongly assumed heart disease patient Carl Cope was drunk as he lay dying outside a hospital
A "CALLOUS an uncaring" paramedic who stood with his hands in his pockets as a man died in front of him has finally admitted he should have helped.
Matt Geary, 37, had earlier brought patient Carl Cope, 47, to Walsall Manor Hospital after he suffered chest pains.
Mr Cope left the waiting room to buy a drink - but collapsed yards from the hospital door watched by Geary as he sat in his ambulance close by.
CCTV showed he waited 30 seconds before getting out to investigate, and then he failed to give him proper medical attention.
Eventually nurses came out to assist but Mr Cope died from the effects of his long-term heart condition in June 2012.
A Health Care Professions tribunal panel later allowed him to keep his job, but was forced to reconsider that ruling after an appeal last year.
Today at his latest hearing Geary admitted: "My behaviour wasn't up to standard and I should have raised my concerns about the patient earlier on when he was put into the waiting room.
"My mindset was wrong and my decision-making was wrong."
Two years ago Geary was given an eight-month suspended sentence after being convicted at Wolverhampton Crown Court of failing to undertake his duty.
Judge John Warner blasted his actions as "callous and uncaring" and said he had decided "not to waste his time" on the patient after wrongly assuming he was drunk.
He said: "You did nothing at all to help as a paramedic, or as a human being."
Geary resigned from West Midlands Ambulance Service following a disciplinary hearing but has continued to practise.
He currently works as a paramedic at school sports events and says this has reignited his passion for the job.
He told the HPC panel: "I am much stronger now and have become a much more well-rounded person.
"I feel I can now understand how my brain was working that day and I am now aware of how I can change my behaviour.
"I am a lot better now at identifying issues and resolving them compared with how I was previously.
"Over the last four or five years my attitude and way of looking at life has completely changed."
Panel chair Professor Ian Hughes said last year Geary should have done more to help.
He said today: "The person who appears before the panel is a changed man.
"The registrant has fully accepted he had not taken the appropriate level of assessment and should not have left the patient on his own.
"The panel has accepted the registrant's remorse and regret of what happened."
The hearing, which could see Geary struck off, continues.
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