Half of weekend 111 calls abandoned at under-fire ambulance trust

By NEARLY half of 111 calls have been abandoned at weekends at a scandalhit ambulance trust which is to be put into special measures.

NHS watchdogs found patients across Sussex, Kent, Surrey and northeast Hampshire were put “at risk of harm” because there were not enough staff to respond to their calls, resulting in long delays and patients simply giving up on the service.

The investigation highlights a litany of failings at South East Coast Ambulance Service trust (Secamb), which has been rated inadequate.

Inspectors were told of a “culture of fear” across the organisation, with bullying and harassment of staff who tried to raise safety concerns.

The trust has been under scrutiny following a Telegraph investigation which revealed that up to 20,000 patients who rang 111 were forced to endure deliberate delays.

The scandal saw the resignation of the trust’s chief executive in May, after an inquiry found that Paul Sutton ordered the covert scheme in 2014, despite warnings from managers.

The new inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found failings so serious that the trust has been forced into special measures. Inspec- tors found it was the worst in the country for answering 999 calls, and had the lowest proportion of cardiac arrest patients surviving as a result of resuscitation by paramedics.

The 111 service run by the trust was found to be putting patients at risk of harm, with delays so long that patients gave up in despair. At weekends, up to 44 per cent of patients abandoned calls, the report found, while calls answered within 60 seconds fell to 3 per cent.

NHS Improvement said it would soon appoint an improvement director at the trust. Since the departure of Mr Sutton, the trust’s acting chief executive has been Geraint Davies, who was also criticised over the 111 scandal.

The NHS inquiry singled him out as the then director of commercial services for failing to alert local commissioners to plans to delay responses to life-threatening calls. Mr Davies said: “We understand the seriousness of placement into special measures but would value the additional support that this would offer us.”