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| South East Coast Ambulance 'failure' over NHS 111 calls | South East Coast Ambulance 'failure' over NHS 111 calls |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Ambulance managers could be forced to step down after a trust changed the way it handed some NHS 111 calls, a health regulator has said. | Ambulance managers could be forced to step down after a trust changed the way it handed some NHS 111 calls, a health regulator has said. |
| South East Coast Ambulance (Secamb) transferred some NHS 111 calls to the 999 emergency system to give staff up to 10 minutes more time. | South East Coast Ambulance (Secamb) transferred some NHS 111 calls to the 999 emergency system to give staff up to 10 minutes more time. |
| Monitor said the calls involved patients with life-threatening illness. | Monitor said the calls involved patients with life-threatening illness. |
| Secamb said it wanted to ensure the service could respond promptly to the most seriously ill patients. | Secamb said it wanted to ensure the service could respond promptly to the most seriously ill patients. |
| The ambulance trust, which covers Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Brighton and North East Hampshire, changed its call-handling system between December 2014 and February 2015. | The ambulance trust, which covers Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Brighton and North East Hampshire, changed its call-handling system between December 2014 and February 2015. |
| How the call handling system was changed | How the call handling system was changed |
| Secamb provides NHS 111 services across the region and responds to 999 calls. | Secamb provides NHS 111 services across the region and responds to 999 calls. |
| Some NHS 111 calls were transferred to the 999 system to give Secamb more time for more urgent calls. | |
| The calls affected were in the second most serious category - issues which may be life-threatening but less time-critical. | The calls affected were in the second most serious category - issues which may be life-threatening but less time-critical. |
| Ambulance trusts are supposed to deal with 75% of these calls within eight minutes, but the trust gave itself up to 10 minutes extra to assess what treatment or advice patients needed and whether an ambulance was required. | Ambulance trusts are supposed to deal with 75% of these calls within eight minutes, but the trust gave itself up to 10 minutes extra to assess what treatment or advice patients needed and whether an ambulance was required. |
| Health regulator Monitor said the project was implemented in response to high pressure on the service. | Health regulator Monitor said the project was implemented in response to high pressure on the service. |
| It said there was a clear failure of management processes and reasonable grounds to suspect the trust was in breach of its licence to provide NHS services. | It said there was a clear failure of management processes and reasonable grounds to suspect the trust was in breach of its licence to provide NHS services. |
| The trust is to review the way the project was handled and how it makes decisions. | The trust is to review the way the project was handled and how it makes decisions. |
| Monitor has added a condition to Secamb's licence, so that if insufficient progress is made the leadership team could be changed. | Monitor has added a condition to Secamb's licence, so that if insufficient progress is made the leadership team could be changed. |
| "This project was poorly managed from the start, done without the proper authorisation and without enough thought given to how it might affect patients," said Monitor regional director Paul Streat. | "This project was poorly managed from the start, done without the proper authorisation and without enough thought given to how it might affect patients," said Monitor regional director Paul Streat. |
| Secamb said it welcomed Monitor's recognition it was under severe pressure from unprecedented call volumes and serious hospital handover delays. | Secamb said it welcomed Monitor's recognition it was under severe pressure from unprecedented call volumes and serious hospital handover delays. |
| "We recognise that it was not well implemented and we did not use our own corporate governance processes correctly," said chief executive Paul Sutton. | "We recognise that it was not well implemented and we did not use our own corporate governance processes correctly," said chief executive Paul Sutton. |
| "These are serious findings. | "These are serious findings. |
| "We have already begun to take steps to address Monitor's concerns. | "We have already begun to take steps to address Monitor's concerns. |
| "As part of this process, independent reviews will assess how decisions are made within the trust, governance processes and our approach to patient safety." | "As part of this process, independent reviews will assess how decisions are made within the trust, governance processes and our approach to patient safety." |