CHAIRMAN of South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAamb), Tony Thorne, has resigned after the independent review he commissioned on a pilot project that delayed emergency response times, found the governance “inadequate”.

SECAmb commissioned its own review after NHS watchdog Monitor criticised the service for failing to give sufficient consideration to the impact on patient safety or fully inform the trust board when it implemented a pilot from December 2014 to February 2015, which delayed emergency crew response times by an extra 10 minutes.

Last week, the trust announced it had appointed Sir Peter Dixon as interim chairman to replace Mr Thorne, and SECAmb chief executive Paul Sutton was currently taking mutually-agreed leave of absence, while it determines the appropriate actions to take.

SECAmb’s review did not look at the impact of the pilot on patients. A separate, clinically-led independent review is due to be concluded by June.

A spokesman said: “SECAmb would like to take this opportunity to reassure members of the public that the trust and its staff are, and always have been, committed to delivering a high level of patient care and service.

“Staff from across the trust are, as ever, working hard to provide a safe and highly-skilled level of professional care, which patients, quite rightly expect to receive.”