Concern about 999 process before Surrey teen's meningitis death

During the 999 call, the handler began to triage the call but was unable to prioritise any of the symptoms on the NHS computer software, according to the coroner's report , external . Henderson wrote that Shelley's parents were told "a call back was scheduled within 20 minutes", but it instead came one hour and 41 minutes later. She said call handlers find it "challenging to triage individuals when multiple signs and symptoms were present in relation to a possible sepsis diagnosis" on the system. Having a "dedicated sepsis algorithm" would assist responding to callers and managing cases, according to the prevention of future deaths report. A further concern raised was that call handlers' official job title - emergency medical advisors - could be "misleading the public" as staff have "no qualifications in medicine or nursing". In its formal response to the coroner , external , NHS England said the concerns raised "have been listened to and reflected upon". The organisation said its programme "would screen for potential sepsis" in a range of situations and that both sepsis and meningitis were "addressed within core training". "Trained clinicians are available at all times to provide immediate advice" to call handlers, it said. NHS England added that Secamb had "implemented a number of improvements", including clearer rules for escalating calls to clinicians and better staff training. Jo Turner, Secamb's interim chief nursing officer, said the service's "deepest sympathies remain with Oliver's family" and it was "extremely grateful to them for working so openly with us". "Their involvement has helped us better understand what happened and implement necessary improvements to our systems, processes and training," she said.