Case study - North East Ambulance Service

In April 2020, the Emergency Operations Centre at North East Ambulance Service received a 999 call from a parent who said hello then promptly hung up. The health advisor attempted to call back, and on the 3rd attempt made contact with the parent, who stated that Child A had accidentally made the call and that everything was fine.

As the health advisor tried to clarify that no assistance was required, the parent then stated that there were concerns about Child A’s temperature but reinforced that no help was required.

The health advisor requested some details to log the call and close the episode of care. After doing so the health advisor sought advice from their team leader, due to the changing story provided by the parent.

Upon further investigation, they established that a CP-IS flag was present on Child A’s record, stating that they were on a child protection plan. Given this new information, an ambulance was dispatched to check the welfare of Child A.

On arrival at the property, the parent denied that the child was present. The ambulance crew remained unsatisfied, and with the help of police found Child A upstairs. Child A was notably distressed with facial bruising and swelling to their head. No reasonable explanation was provided for the injuries and this was discussed with the police crew on scene.

Child A was subsequently transported to hospital by the ambulance crew and police, and placed into the care of the local authority. The parent was arrested for child neglect.

Following the event, both the health advisor and team leader expressed that they had felt a sense of unease around the explanations provided during what was a very brief 90 second phone contact. The presence of the CP-IS flag aided their clinical decision to send an ambulance crew to check on the wellbeing of the child.