Ambulances referred by NHS 111 service deliberately delayed

Ambulances referred by NHS 111 service deliberately delayed under secret trust policy, inquiry finds
Probe concludes decision to embark on the plan which affected 20,000 patients was taken by boss of South East Coast Ambulance trust

Ambulances dispatched after people called the NHS 111 helpline were deliberately delayed under a secret policy authorised by a senior health service executive, a leaked report seen by The Daily Telegraph reveals.

Up to 20,000 patients were subject to deliberate delays under the covert operation, which forced high-risk cases in the South East to automatically wait up to twice as long if their call was referred from the helpline. An inquiry into the scandal, which was exposed by this newspaper in October, has concluded that the decision to embark on the plan was taken by the chief executive of South East Coast Ambulance trust.

Under NHS rules, calls designated as “life-threatening” are supposed to receive an ambulance response within eight minutes - regardless of whether the caller dials 999 or the non-emergency 111 line. But the ambulance trust, which covers Sussex, Kent, Surrey and North East Hampshire, unilaterally invented its own system to "stop the clock" and routinely downgrade 111 calls.

As a result, up to 20,000 callers - including cases classed as “life-threatening” – were told that an ambulance was on its way, when in fact the call had been placed in an automatic queue, adding up to 10 minutes to their wait.

At least 11 deaths have been linked to the rogue protocols. They include that of a 60-year-old Sussex man who was forced to wait 35 minutes for an ambulance, despite suffering clear signs of a cardiac arrest while on the phone to 111 call handlers.

More here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs...-under-secret-trust-policy-inquiry-finds.html

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sir albion said:

I'd suspect like many things in this country is a cost saving measure in some sort of way...bloody ridiculous

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The orders to "stop the clock" also allowed the trust to falsely claim it was hitting key NHS performance targets, improving performance by up to 5 per cent.

The report ordered by NHS regulator Monitor, is deeply critical of the decisions taken by Mr Sutton, who has led the trust since 2006, on a salary of £160,000, after receiving a £30,000 pay rise over two years.

It also criticises senior managers for claiming plans had been authorised by local commissioners, who in fact had not been alerted.

And it accuses senior executives of attempting to cover up their failings when the truth began to emerge.

The damning report concludes: “Our overall conclusion from this review is that there were a number of fundamental failings in governance at the trust which resulted in the implementation of a high risk and sensitive project without adequate clinical assessment or appraisal by the board, commissioners or the 111 service.

"The CEO made the ultimate decision to proceed with the pilot and played a critical leadership role throughout.”

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Guy Fawkes said:

Reading the article i'd disagree - seems more about fiddling the figures to make it look like it was better at meeting it's targets than it would otherwise have been

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Guy Fawkes said:

Reading the article i'd disagree - seems more about fiddling the figures to make it look like it was better at meeting it's targets than it would otherwise have been

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Thunder Bolt said:

The report ordered by NHS regulator Monitor, is deeply critical of the decisions taken by Mr Sutton, who has led the trust since 2006, on a salary of £160,000, after receiving a £30,000 pay rise over two years.

No manager should get a salary like that, regardless of their status. There have been several cases of trust managers having to be paid off to the tune of £250K. Money is being wasted hand over fist.

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In 2006 Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge lost their lives tackling a fire at Marlie Farm. After investigation, this was found to be down to negligence on the part of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Despite a court ruling that compensation must be paid, the fire service is refusing and stopping the bereaved families recovering from this traumatic event.

Why are we still asking for this now eight years after the tragic event?

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Lord Bracknell said:

As far as the non-emergency patient transport service is concerned, the current contract between the NHS and the South East Coast Ambulance Service comes to an end on 31 March 2016. After that date, transport will be provided by Coperforma Ltd, a private company based in Hampshire. SECAMB didn't even submit a tender. It will be a decision for Coperforma to decide whether or not to use SECAMB as a provider. The 999 Emergency Ambulance service is still subject to a contract between the NHS and SECAMB.

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glasfryn said:

speak as I find
twice in the last 12months my other half contacted 111 and a Dr rang back almost immediately an ambulance was called by the Dr and I was in the DGH within 20 mins
maybe I was just lucky?

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Acker79 said:

Is it just me, or is that really bad writing?

Ambulances referred by NHS 111 service deliberately delayed under secret trust policy, inquiry finds
Probe concludes decision to embark on the plan which affected 20,000 patients was taken by boss of South East Coast Ambulance trust

Ambulances dispatched after people called the NHS 111 helpline were deliberately delayed under a secret policy authorised by a senior health service executive, a leaked report seen by The Daily Telegraph reveals.

Up to 20,000 patients were subject to deliberate delays under the covert operation, which forced high-risk cases in the South East to automatically wait up to twice as long if their call was referred from the helpline. An inquiry into the scandal, which was exposed by this newspaper in October, has concluded that the decision to embark on the plan was taken by the chief executive of South East Coast Ambulance trust.​

All three of those paragraphs say the same thing.

Under NHS rules, calls designated as “life-threatening” are supposed to receive an ambulance response within eight minutes - regardless of whether the caller dials 999 or the non-emergency 111 line. But the ambulance trust, which covers Sussex, Kent, Surrey and North East Hampshire, unilaterally invented its own system to "stop the clock" and routinely downgrade 111 calls.

As a result, up to 20,000 callers - including cases classed as “life-threatening” – were told that an ambulance was on its way, when in fact the call had been placed in an automatic queue, adding up to 10 minutes to their wait.​

There's a bit more info here, but it still ultimately boils down to the same thing.

At least 11 deaths have been linked to the rogue protocols. They include that of a 60-year-old Sussex man who was forced to wait 35 minutes for an ambulance, despite suffering clear signs of a cardiac arrest while on the phone to 111 call handlers.​

Surely things like this should be the bulk of the story? Or is it like those womens magazines with headlines such as 'Big Mac got me pregnant' then you read the story and find someone went to get a big mac, met an old flame on the way, hooked up and got pregnant, and she's so happy and it 'never would have happened if she didn't go for that big mac', and a closer look at these linked deaths would undermine the story?

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Thunder Bolt said:

The report ordered by NHS regulator Monitor, is deeply critical of the decisions taken by Mr Sutton, who has led the trust since 2006, on a salary of £160,000, after receiving a £30,000 pay rise over two years.

No manager should get a salary like that, regardless of their status. There have been several cases of trust managers having to be paid off to the tune of £250K. Money is being wasted hand over fist.

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glasfryn said:

speak as I find
twice in the last 12months my other half contacted 111 and a Dr rang back almost immediately an ambulance was called by the Dr and I was in the DGH within 20 mins
maybe I was just lucky?

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Raleigh Chopper said:

I don't know if you were lucky or not.
My Mum, who lives in Eastbourne, had heart palpitations last night at 7pm, this is a fairly common problem for her, she called my sister, who is a nurse, she called an ambulance for her.
2, yes 2 hours later it turns up and takes her to DGH. The ambulance came from Hastings, turns out her pulse was over 200 but she is ok now, she got home after midnight.
To say I am angry is a vast understatement.

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Leekbrookgull said:

Maybe the Dr calling had something to do with it ?

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drew said:

How much do you think the CEO of an organisation responsible for a £200m budget and 3200 staff should actually receive. Also, how have you calculated that or is it just a guestimate?

I'm not condoning what Sutton has done and I hope he gets charged but £160k seems quite low for an organisation that size.

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drew said:

How much do you think the CEO of an organisation responsible for a £200m budget and 3200 staff should actually receive. Also, how have you calculated that or is it just a guestimate?

I'm not condoning what Sutton has done and I hope he gets charged but £160k seems quite low for an organisation that size.

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Thunder Bolt said:

I haven't guessitmated it. It was a copy & paste from the article.

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