The chief executive of the troubled South East Coast ambulance service, which has come under fire for delays to patients and misreporting of its performance, has resigned.
South East Coast ambulance service NHS trust (Secamb) said on Tuesday that Paul Sutton, whose position had been a source of speculation for months, after he took a mutually agreed leave of absence in March, had left “to pursue other interests”.
In October, the trust was criticised for an “experiment”, which saw delays in sending help for some calls to allow extra time for patient assessments.
It ended in failure and in March the trust’s chairman, Tony Thorne, stood down after a crisis meeting of Secamb bosses.
His resignation, and Sutton’s leave of absence, coincided with a report by Deloitte into the pilot project, under which Secamb delayed sending help for certain 111 calls. It transferred them instead to the 999 system to reassess what type of advice or treatment patients needed and whether an ambulance was really required.
Deloitte concluded 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 NHS 111 service”.
It said the chief executive “made the ultimate decision to proceed with the pilot and played a critical leadership role throughout”.
NHS rules say 75% of category A red 2 calls, for conditions such as strokes or fits, should have an emergency response at the scene within eight minutes. It is the second most serious category, behind only situations when people are non-responsive.
Secamb – which covers Kent, Surrey, Sussex and north-east Hampshire – gave itself up to 10 extra minutes to reassess calls coming through the 111 service and decide whether an ambulance was really necessary.
In consequence the trust reported that it had met the 75% target for responding to red 2 calls, when it had not been achieved. This was because it started the clock for reporting purposes when calls were either allocated for dispatch or recategorised.
Deloitte said Sutton’s “directive and persuasive management style” inhibited challenge to the pilot among those who knew about it. It said that the chief executive had recognised retrospectively that commissioners may not have understood the detail of the project before giving their approval.
A Secamb spokesman said: “South East Coast ambulance service NHS foundation trust announces that chief executive Paul Sutton has now left the trust to pursue other interests. The trust would like to thank Paul for his contribution to the developments and achievements of the trust over the past 10 years.
“The process for finding a permanent replacement will start immediately and will be subject to further announcements as appropriate. In the interim period, Geraint Davies will continue as acting chief executive.”
