Felix Hartley
30 Aug 2024 · Coroner Joanne Andrews · West Sussex
This report repeats 2 earlier warnings. See the linked reports.
The coroner's concerns
1. delayed access to on-call neonatology consultants
“over the weekend and overnight Neonatology Consultants are not available immediately on site at either the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath or the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton”
2. inadequate proximity of on-call consultant to emergency sites
“on-call Consultant cannot be more than 30 minutes from either Brighton or Haywards Heath”
3. absence of standardized response expectations
“no national guidance as to the time that an on-call Neonatology Consultant should be expected to attend a hospital in the event of an emergency or as to whether multiple sites can be covered by one on-call Consultant”
Linked reports
Closely relatedConfidence 0.80 · moderate
Earlier report
“the ED on call consultant arrangements meant that long wait times would not in themselves trigger on call consultants being asked to attend the hospital.”
This report
“The on-call Consultant does not always have access to an emergency vehicle and if called to attend either site would use their own vehicle”
Identical hazardConfidence 0.90 · high
Earlier report
“The current contracts at the East Kent Trust permit consultants to live up to 30 minutes travel time from the hospital.”
This report
“the Trust practice, as opposed to Policy, is that the on-call Consultant cannot be more than 30 minutes from either Brighton or Haywards Heath.”