Richard Boateng

1. 1. non-clinicians making judgments about appointment urgency

   “A call to the GP surgery the day before [the deceased]'s death was taken by a receptionist who arranged a routine appointment. She was not a clinician and only had on the job training. The surgery has since introduced a system called Klinic which is safer. It prompts questions and uses an algorithm to alert any urgent or emergency calls that are then flagged. All calls are also reviewed by clinicians. However, I am concerned that other surgeries may employ non-clinicians who may be required to make judgments”

2. 2. lack of clear guidance for LAS on handling welfare calls

   “The GP called LAS concerned about [the deceased]'s welfare. LAS attended his home address. [the deceased] was not there. The LAS paramedic advised his sister to call the police. The LAS quality manager accepted in evidence that it would have been better to have taken her number and to pass it on to the police to make contact. I was told that national guidance on this issue was published in the summer. To date, neither guidance to crews nor to control had been updated to make the LAS guidance clearer to those”

3. 3. lack of practical guidance for police conveying patients without ambulances

   “Due to the Covid pandemic, no ambulances were available when police attended to [the deceased]. The Metropolitan Police Service had a policy that permitted conveying patients to hospital in an emergency if no ambulances were available. However, the policy included no practical guidance as to how that could be achieved mitigating the risks. I heard that the Metropolitan Police Service is updating the guidance. However, I am concerned that other forces across the country may also lack such practical guidance”

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