02.03.16
Patients Association calls for apology following leaked report into SECamb 111 failings
A leaked report into failings at South East Coast Ambulance Trust (SECamb) has raised fears of a cover-up, the Patients Association has warned as they called on the trust to apologise.
The draft Monitor report, seen by the Daily Telegraph on Monday, said that the trust chief executive, Paul Sutton, secretly ordered a protocol where urgent calls to the 111 helpline were automatically placed in 10 minute queues.
The protocol has been linked to 11 deaths in SECamb’s target area of Sussex, Kent, Surrey and North East Hampshire.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “This confirms our previous serious concerns about secretive decision-making and cover-up at SECamb.
“This issue goes back to 2014 and should have been resolved long ago, rather than being dragged out through leaked reports. The Trust should apologise and the NHS should ensure this never happens again.”