Baby death 999 call went unanswered

There were not enough staff on duty to answer the emergency call, the inquest was told

An ambulance service failed to respond to a 999 call from a woman whose three-week-old son had stopped breathing because there were not enough staff on duty, an inquest heard.

Lauren Braisby was put on hold while the operator twice tried to contact South East Coast Ambulance Service.

Her son Jenson died as a result of sudden infant death syndrome, East Sussex Coroner's Court heard.

The ambulance service said it was "very sorry" for the incident.

The inquest was told Ms Braisby, 17, had woken at about 04:00 BST on 25 August 2017 to feed her identical twins Alfie and Jenson.

Baby 'was lifeless'

She found Jenson unresponsive so dialled 999.

The operator tried to connect the call but was put on hold, so tried a back-up line for urgent incidents when the control room is busy - but this also went unanswered.

Ms Braisby, from Polegate, started to drive Jenson to hospital but managed to flag down a passing ambulance en route.

Paramedic James Punchard told the inquest Jenson was "lifeless and not breathing".

The team began life support and but he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards in hospital.

A serious incident report concluded there were not enough staff on duty in the control room.

'Serious issue'

The hospital trust had been put into special measures in 2016 after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated it inadequate.

In November 2018, improvements following a £10m grant saw the trust rated as "requiring improvement".

Mark Bailey, operations unit manager, told the court staffing was a "serious issue", but a recruitment drive was under way.

Coroner Alan Craze said he was "satisfied" the trust was making progress.

The inquest was told Ms Braisby's other son, Alfie, was "seriously ill" and the parents were unable to attend the inquest.

A South East Coast Ambulance Service spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time and we are very sorry for the service they received in such tragic circumstances."