A petition backed by the family of Quinn Evie Milburn-Beadle is calling for a public inquiry into failings at North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and now has more than 1,000 signatures.
NEAS has been under fire in recent weeks after a leaked independent report and testimony from whistleblowers revealed that in cases - including that of Quinn who died in Shildon in 2018 - key documents were either altered or not disclosed to coroners investigating a patient's death.
Quinn Evie had been just 17 when she died on December 9 2018. The first paramedic on the scene did not attempt "full advanced life support" before declaring her death. At the time paramedics raised concerns about this and though an internal investigation at NEAS found this to have been this case, the coroner presiding over Quinn's inquest was not at the time informed that an investigation had been undertaken.
An external firm - AuditOne - were brought in to examine the concerns raised, and found that, in spring 2020 - "the coroner is not being made aware of concerns and / or investigations being carried out by the trust in a timely fashion". NEAS accepts that there were "historical failings" with its processes on this front, but maintains these have been resolved.
In the House of Commons after the concerns were made public in May, health minister Maria Caulfield told MPs she was "horrified" to hear of the issue - and she added: "I cannot imagine the distress they’re going through and it’s hard enough to lose a loved one suddenly. But to have fears that mistakes were made that could have made a difference and, more than that, the facts of what happened were not revealed in every case, goes further.
"They have my unreserved sympathy and support." She pledged to meet with families affected and said the Department of Health and Social Care "will, of course, be investigating more thoroughly, and will not hesitate to take any action necessary and appropriate to protect patients".
Now, Quinn's family and that of Peter Coates - whose death after delays in an ambulance getting to him was also among those examined by AuditOne - are backing the petition saying "the cover ups made by this public body [...] need to be exposed". The petition also reads: "Let's ensure there is a public inquiry."
Quinn's parents Tracey and David Beadle said they were pleased at the traction the petition - which has garnered upwards of 1,100 signatures so far. Tracey told ChronicleLive : "We are really happy with how the petition is going - and obviously we would like to get a lot more signatures. We hit a thousand in just over a week. We want a public inquiry and those people at NEAS who are responsible for covering up the truth to be held accountable.
"For us, we have known about this for a while now, but for a long time no-one was listening. It's quite a relief that it's not just us banging the drum any more. There are people around us in a similar situation."
Heartbreakingly, the couple's son Dyllon - Quinn's brother - killed himself less than a year after his sister's death. An inquest into Dyllon's death found he had been "haunted" by the circumstances around his sister's death. Tracey and David added: "For us, had this come out sooner, perhaps Dyllon may still be here - our son might still be with us."
The couple said they had yet to hear from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about the "thorough investigation" minister Maria Caulfield promised in response to an urgent question in the House of Commons in May. "We're pushing for that," they said. "Our details were passed to them the day she did that speech."
NEAS chief executive Helen Ray said: "Utmost in our mind are the families affected and we unreservedly apologise for the distress we have caused to them. We had a number of issues, dating back to 2019, which meant we needed to fully review and revise our reporting mechanisms.
"When concerns were raised, we acted. The findings of independent reviews that we commissioned reported that we had issues with our governance and process, but there was no evidence that information was being withheld.
"We fully accepted the findings of these reviews, and a task group was established to ensure full disclosure to coroners of any historical reports and a change to the process in place for dealing with future disclosures. Claims made that we continue to fail in respect of disclosure are incorrect. We have reaudited our process, worked with coroners and with the CQC. We are confident that the system in place now is robust."
NEAS is also awaiting the results of another AuditOne report into its coronial processes - which had been set for publication in April 2022 but has been delayed.
DHSC has yet to provide an update as to the status of the investigation or the form this will take.
Access the petition at change.org/p/public-enquiry-deaths-cover-up-the-north-east-ambulance-service
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