Emergency services response delayed, boy succumbs to sepsis after mother makes four distress calls and endures a 90-minute wait at the hospital, coroner's court learns.
In the ongoing inquest at County Hall in Exeter, questions are being raised about the NHS's emergency response system after a three-year-old boy named Theo tragically died from sepsis following a 90-minute wait for an ambulance.
Theo had been admitted and discharged from Plymouth's Derriford Hospital the previous day with a suspected upper respiratory infection. The coroner has expressed concern about inconsistencies in the grading of Theo's case by two different services, the South West Ambulance Service and Herts Urgent Care, 24 hours apart.
The NHS uses a grading system, provided by NHS England through a product called NHS Pathways, to prioritize ambulance responses based on clinical urgency and resource optimization within urgent and emergency care pathways. The system aims to ensure the "right care, right place, right pathway, right process, right people" approach in urgent and emergency care.
This system typically involves triaging calls into different categories or grades, reflecting the severity and immediacy of clinical need. Higher-grade emergencies, such as life-threatening conditions, receive faster ambulance dispatch compared to lower-priority cases. However, the system can be strained by high demand or complex cases, as seen in Theo's case.
The delay in Theo's ambulance response has highlighted the critical need for accurate triage and sufficient ambulance resources to respond rapidly to life-threatening emergencies like sepsis, which can deteriorate rapidly, requiring very prompt emergency response to improve survival chances.
Dr Graham, who was involved in Theo's case, stated that the grading system they used was provided by NHS England. However, there is a concern about two different algorithms or systems in place within the UK that led to a different category and ambulance disposition for Theo's case.
It is important to note that individual providers do not have any jurisdiction over the NHS Pathways product. The exact grading and decision process for this specific case are not detailed in the search results, but such incidents underscore ongoing challenges in emergency triage and ambulance dispatch systems in balancing urgency, resource availability, and patient outcomes.
The inquest into Theo's case continues, with the coroner exploring the implications of the inconsistent grading and the potential impact it may have had on Theo's care and outcome. The case serves as a reminder of the importance of an effective and consistent emergency response system, particularly in life-threatening situations.
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