Automated 999 call-handling system causing fatal ambulance delays

Three people have died after receiving delayed care from the South East Coast Ambulance Service, caused as a result of failures with a computer call-handling system.

Mrs Filby rang an ambulance after having a fall and being unable to get up. The computer system was unable to understand the situation in the way a human would have been able to. As a result she did not receive medical care which ultimately led to her death.

Similarly, a man died after calling an ambulance after noticing that his catheter was full of blood. He was informed that an ambulance was not being sent out and instead had been referred to the community team. Three hours later, nurses visited him only to find that he had stopped breathing and was dead.

Mr Harding died after suffering an aneurysm. The call-handling system recorded his situation as a minor medical issue, and as a result he did not receive medical attention for over an hour, resulting in his death.

Two years ago, the ambulance service covering Kent, Sussex, Surrey and north east Hampshire was rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission. However earlier this year, it was taken out of special measures after it had supposedly made “significant improvements.”

Chantae Clark, a paralegal in the Medical Negligence team at Ashtons Legal comments: “It is extremely sad to hear that these people have died because of medical issues that could have been treated had their emergency calls been prioritised correctly. This is not the actions of a single individual but a systematic failure which following this tragedy clearly needs significant improvement.”