Ambulances referred by NHS 111 service deliberately delayed under secret trust policy, inquiry finds

Ambulances dispatched after individuals called the NHS 111 helpline were purposely postponed under a secret policy authorised by a senior health service executive, a leaked report seen by The Daily Telegraph exposes. As much as 20,000 clients underwent intentional delays under the concealed operation, which required high-risk cases in the South East to instantly wait as much as twice as long if their call was referred from the helpline. A query into the scandal, which was exposed by this paper in October, has concluded that the choice to embark on the plan was taken by the chief executive of South East Coast Ambulance trust. The draft report states Paul Sutton ordered the modifications regardless of direct pleas to him from senior supervisors raising issues about the threats of the plan. “The CEO made …
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