Inquest of Amy Allan

Following the inquest into the death of former patient Amy Allan and the subsequent Preventing Future Deaths report given to Great Ormond Street Hospital, Chief Executive Matthew Shaw would like to outline how the hospital is learning from this and what action has been taken to address the concerns that have been raised.Matthew Shaw, Chief Executive at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“I’m deeply sorry that Amy didn’t get the level of care she should have had. We know there are things we could and should have done better and it’s our responsibility to learn from those. Our thoughts remain with Amy’s family during this extremely difficult time, while the hospital continues to reflect on what happened, considers the changes we have made so far and asks what more we could improve.

“Following a review of the events that led up to Amy’s death we have already made changes to practice:

• We have improved the way clinical information is shared between different specialist teams, to make sure staff have as comprehensive a picture as possible when making complex decisions about a patient’s treatment. 
• We now use a single log-in electronic patient record system which means staff can quickly access clinical information about a patient and have the right information at the right time, rather than routinely having to use multiple systems.
• We have improved consultant availability. This means there is more consultant time for each patient being looked after in our paediatric intensive care unit.
• We have introduced a new process to make sure the care of patients, like Amy, who have both complex spinal and heart conditions is routinely considered by the hospital’s specialist joint cardiology committee.

“We will continue to look closely at the concerns raised by Amy’s family and the Coroner’s findings to determine whether we can do more to get it right for our patients.

“Amy’s family feels the hospital has not been open or honest in dealing with their complaint. No family should feel that way, and we will redouble our efforts to build strong relationships of mutual trust with the patients and families we try our best to serve.”

An updated version of this statement can be found here.