The ambulance trust serving Surrey, Kent and Sussex will be placed into special measures after an inspection found a 'culture of harassment and bullying', poor response times and a lack of safety monitoring.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) has been beset by scandal for months after a secret management scheme to 're-triage' emergency 111 calls, and effectively restart the clock for logging response times, was uncovered.

Chief executive Paul Sutton quit after the revelations, contained in an independent report by Deloitte which also identified a "fundamental failure of governance".

The trust refused to say whether Mr Sutton resigned or was asked to leave, or whether he had signed a non-disclosure agreement. Chairman Tony Thorne also stepped down.

The Care Quality Commission rated Secamb 'inadequate' overall in a report released today, but said tired and overstretched staff provided 'good' care despite a lack of support from senior figures.

Read more: Head of South East Coast Ambulance Service trust leaves two months after "fundamental failures" in 111 pilot scheme

Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, said: "It is to the credit of the staff that they have continued to provide a vital service to the people of Kent, Surrey and Sussex – dealing with almost a million emergency calls a year alone.

"Throughout our inspection we heard how staff were giving their best, treating patients kindly, with dignity, care and compassion.

"It was apparent that the leadership had not been supporting staff to do their jobs effectively. Staff told us there was a culture of harassment and bullying.

"We found in many cases there weren’t enough properly trained staff, or that the proper equipment wasn’t available to them.

"At the time of the inspection, we found evidence that senior executives were not always pulling in the same direction.

"However, improvements are being formulated by an experienced interim chair and the executive has been recently strengthened by new appointments.

"Once care arrives, it is of a good standard. The trust is taking urgent steps needed and some improvements have already been made."

Secamb's acting chief executive Geraint Davies said: "While we are pleased that the dedication and care of our staff is highlighted as good in this report, we are sorry that we have not met the standards expected in a number of other areas.

"We have already been working on and implementing a number of improvements. I would like to reassure everyone we serve that I, along with my senior team, am committed and focused on ensuring these necessary changes continue.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to point to the enormous amount of excellent work undertaken every day by our staff across our region, often in challenging circumstances, to respond to and treat patients."