NHS 24 Chief Quits In Wake Of ‘Avoidable’ Death Of Boy

The chief executive of NHS 24 has quit less than two weeks after a sheriff ruled the death of a child could have been avoided.

The resignation of Sandy Forrest, a former police chief who had been in post fewer than six months, will create more uncertainty for the beleaguered service, which has been blamed for the deaths of three patients.

Earlier this month, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Nicol Stephen called for the service to be scrapped, saying it made too many mistakes.

Kyle Brown, who was 20 months old, died from meningococcal septicaemia in April last year. His mother, Lisa Thomson, phoned NHS 24 for help after he became unwell and was covered in a bruise-like rash, but had to wait 40 minutes for an NHS 24 nurse adviser to call her back.

Following a fatal accident inquiry at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Andrew Lothian said: “I have to determine that Kyle’s death might have been avoided had emergency treatment by means of a 999 ambulance call to take him to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children been made.”

A spokeswoman for the organisation insisted Mr Forrest’s sudden departure was not connected to Kyle’s death.

Yesterday Kyle’s father Stuart said he hoped Mr Forrest’s departure would lead to fundamental changes in the way the out-of-hours helpline is run. “Hopefully this means someone else can come in and overhaul the system from the top. We just hope this means other children will be saved and people won’t have to go through what me and Lisa have.”

Procedures at NHS 24 were changed immediately after Kyle’s death, but a recent report into the organisation criticised the “call centre culture” and said there were problems recruiting and retaining staff.

Yesterday the health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said day-to-day running of the service would be taken over by chief operating officer Dr George Crookes: “What matters to the Scottish Government is that NHS 24 sustains the high level of service it is now providing to those Scots who have an urgent need to access out-of-hours services.”

However, the Tory health spokeswoman, Mary Scanlon, said she feared the sudden loss of its chief executive could create turmoil in an already beleaguered organisation.

She said: “It is unfortunate that Mr Forrest has resigned after such a short period in the role of chief executive.

“This could result in another period of instability contributing to the unstable history of the establishment of NHS 24.”

In his call for the service to be scrapped, Mr Stephen said: “I have seen it threaten the safety of my own family and take the lives of too many vulnerable people, young and old alike.”

Mr Stephen refused to elaborate on the circumstances in which his own family had suffered, but said the “misnamed” NHS 24 was trying to cover for a “glaring gap” in local care.

“I want to see GPs, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other health professionals come together to design a new model that provides all patients with safe, accessible 24-hour local healthcare that removes this false and sometimes dangerous barrier between in-hours and out-of-hours services,” he said.

Allan Watson, the chairman of NHS 24, said Mr Forrest, who served for 23 years as a police officer in Strathclyde and later spent two years as HM Assistant Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland and was also the director of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence, had resigned due to the pressure of other commitments.

He said: “It is with regret that the board of NHS 24 has accepted the resignation of Sandy Forrest as chief executive.

“He joined us holding a number of external commitments which he had been hoping to balance with his responsibilities at NHS 24, however, that has proved to be impossible, hence his decision to step down.

“We respect him for doing so and wish him continued success in his career in the future.”

DEATHS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

WHEN 20-month-old Kyle Brown developed a fever and a bruise-like rash, his mother phoned NHS 24 for help.

But Lisa Thomson had to wait 40 minutes for a nurse adviser to call her back and was told to take a taxi to hospital.

The delay may have been fatal – Kyle died the following day of meningococcal septicaemia.

In his written judgment, Sheriff Andrew Lothian said: “I have to determine that Kyle’s death might have been avoided had emergency treatment by means of a 999 ambulance call to take him to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children been made.”

He criticised procedures used by NHS 24 to assess symptoms, saying staff considered symptoms singly rather than collectively.

However, it wasn’t the first time NHS 24 procedures had been ruled inadequate.

In 2005, Sheriff James Tierney issued a damning report after the fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of Shomi Miah, 17, of Aberdeen and Steven Wiseman, 30 of Laurencekirk.

Miss Miah, a pupil at Harlaw Academy, was advised to take paracetamol after a nurse failed to recognise the symptoms of meningitis. It was 12 hours before she saw a doctor.

Mr Wiseman, a joiner, died of toxic shock after complaining of flu-like symptoms, which were not recognised as serious by an NHS 24 adviser.