NEAS review: Family of Shildon teen brand ambulance service report a 'whitewash'
The family of a teenager who was not given life support by a paramedic have criticised a report into allegations that an ambulance service covered up errors.
It looked at the cases of four patients treated by the service in 2018 and 2019, including that of 17-year-old Quinn Evie Milburn-Beadle, from County Durham.
Her family has now branded the review a "complete whitewash" and called for a public inquiry.
Emergency services were called to Quinn's home in Shildon on 9 December, 2018, where she had been found hanging.
Paramedic Gavin Wood had travelled to the scene in a rapid response vehicle. When he arrived, two police officers were already providing the 17-year-old with CPR. By the time a community paramedic and a response crew arrived, Mr Wood had made the decision to stop CPR and declared her deceased.
Mr Wood, who has since been struck off, ignored national and local guidelines by not attempting advanced life support techniques, today's review said.
The review was carried out following allegations that NEAS covered up fatal paramedic errors in 2018 and 2019, and deliberately altered or omitted important facts that families and coroners should have known.
An article in the Sunday Times also stated that the whistle-blower alleged they were bullied and victimised for raising these concerns.
Quinn's parents, Tracey and David described the review as a "complete whitewash" and said they did not feel it was "impartial or independent".
They added it "fell short of the truth" and said the only person held accountable to date was Mr Wood.
Speaking to ITV Tyne Tees, Mr and Mrs Beadle described their daughter as "bright and funny".
They added: "She loved to play practical jokes on people. She was loving and caring."
"She was a force of nature.
"She wanted to go to university and she wanted to study to be a paramedic which I think is one of the saddest things in all of this."
Following her death, Mr and Mrs Beadle later discovered the paramedic first on the scene had failed to take appropriate action to try to save her - something the North East Ambulance Service had investigated but initially failed to disclose.
Mrs Beadle said: "We're logical people. We know that Quinn may not have survived anyway but had he done basic lifesaving - and then gone onto advanced lifesaving - he could have got Quinn to hospital, we could have held her hand while it was warm and said our goodbyes.
"As it was, we had to phone our son in Manchester and tell him that his little sister had died. And that had such an impact on Dylan."
Today's review said: “However small the probability of recovery was, (she) deserved that chance and so did her family.”
Losing his sister had a massive affect on Quinn's older brother Dylan and less than a year after her death he also took his own life.
His mother says he had been deeply upset by the report into his sister's death, indicating that more could have been done for her.
The North East Ambulance Service has previously apologised to Mr and Mrs Beadle, acknowledging - in an interview last year - that the family had been through an "unimaginable ordeal".
However the family have said the report published today falls short of what they need for closure.
Mr and Mrs Beadle said: "We need the full public inquiry so we know everything that happened to our daughter on the night that she died because we still think there's things we don't know."
"It's not just about us, it's about people having full trust within the service and we know there are great paramedics, people out there on the frontline, we're not bashing the NHS. We want justice for Quinn but we want other people to have that as well and maybe they don't even know it yet."
In response to the independent review’s findings, Helen Ray, chief executive of NEAS, said:
“Firstly, I would like to say how sorry I am for any distress caused to the families for mistakes made in the past. Each family has received an unreserved apology from me of behalf of the trust.
“There were flaws in our processes and these have now either been addressed or are being resolved at pace. We are grateful the report recognises that we have a new leadership team committed to addressing the issues.
“Of the 15 recommendations directly applicable to the trust, all are being actioned at pace and in some cases already completed.
“We have strengthened the governance, systems and processes relating to investigations and coronial reports; and continue to monitor these to ensure the lessons have been learned. We have made it easier for issues to be flagged by increasing our resources for our Freedom To Speak Up team."
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