The death of 86-year-old Geoffrey Hoad following a routine operation at a private hospital in Colney has raised concerns about ambulance delays and the subsequent risk of future deaths. After his condition deteriorated three days after his operation, an ambulance was called to transfer him less than a mile away to the emergency assessment unit at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, but it took more than 14 hours for paramedics to arrive. Although the delay was not found to be the cause of Mr. Hoad’s death, the senior coroner described the delays as “unacceptable and continued” and issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report to Spire Healthcare and the East of England Ambulance Service Trust.
Spire Healthcare and the Spire Norwich Hospital (SHN) take the issue of inter facility transfer extremely seriously and are striving to mitigate the risks associated with the same. They are taking appropriate steps to ensure that transfers to higher acuity facilities are done in a timely and safe manner, without placing undue burdens on a service experiencing severe capacity pressures. Despite continued pressures on the ambulance trust, the group acknowledges the important clinical benefit to continuing private elective care and has completed a risk assessment of ambulance transfer delays, which will be regularly reviewed.
The East of England Ambulance Service Trust has also outlined the actions being taken to address concerns, including the additional recruitment of more than 300 frontline clinicians by March 2024 and the implementation of an Operational Performance and Improvement Plan to address concerns about efficiency. They recognize that further improvement is still required and remain focused on the range of actions identified. The group also acknowledged that while it is aware of continued pressures on the ambulance trust, there was “important clinical benefit” to continuing private elective care.
Mr. Hoad’s medical cause of death given at the inquest in September was a heart attack, with coronary heart disease following hospital admission for postoperative ileus. Since his death, there have been efforts to address the delays and improve the transfer process, but questions about the rates of NHS patients getting transferred from the private hospital are also being raised. The Prevention of Future Deaths report has highlighted the need to address systemic issues within the healthcare system to prevent any future incidents such as this one.
