NHS chief at centre of 111 scandal authorised secret policy

The NHS chief at the centre of a growing 111 scandal authorised a separate policy which meant 999 calls were recorded as receiving a swift response - even if no help was given, a leaked report reveals. The head of South East Coast Ambulance trust ordered the secret scheme, which improved its apparent performance against national targets. Under NHS rules, 75 per cent of calls assessed as “life-threatening” should receive a response within eight minutes. But the trust retrospectively assessed thousands of missed calls, and counted them as receiving such a response - simply on the grounds that the patient had been within 200 metres of heart-starting equipment. The rule was applied regardless of whether the medical emergency could have been helped by a defibrillator, or whether any attempt was made to use it. The practice at the scandal-hit trust was uncovered by a Daily Telegraph investigation in November. "It is clear there was wider knowledge of what was going on and any decent system of governance should have been capable of stopping this dangerous and unethical approach," Peter Walsh A paramedic warned that more than 5,000 life-threatening cases a year were being retrospectively assessed, using a web mapping tool, which identified the presence of nearby defibrillators. It meant that life-threatening cases were treated as receiving a response within eight minutes, even if in reality they waited far longer for any help to arrive. At the time, the trust insisted its methods were compliant with national guidelines. But findings of an NHS investigation, seen by this newspaper confirm that the protocols in fact breached such rules. It reveals that they were directly authorised by Paul Sutton, the head of the trust, by email, without following any of the normal governance procedures.

Shouldn’t they all be in JAIL awaiting their TRIAL for:

18 U.S. Code § 1519 - Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy

Current through Pub. L. 114-38. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

US Code

prev | next

Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

31 CFR 0.208 - Falsification of official records.

CFR
eCFR
Rulemaking

prev | next
§ 0.208 Falsification of official records.
Employees shall not intentionally make false, misleading or ambiguous statements, orally or in writing, in connection with any matter of official interest. Matters of official interest include among other things: Transactions with the public, government agencies or fellow employees; application forms and other forms that serve as a basis for appointment, reassignment, promotion or other personnel action; vouchers; leave records and time and attendance records; work reports of any nature or accounts of any kind; affidavits; entry or record of any matter relating to or connected with an employee’s duties; and reports of any moneys or securities received, held or paid to, for or on behalf of the United States.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.