23 SOUTH EAST COAST AMBULANCE SERVICE UPDATE PDF 2 MB
Purpose of the
report: This report updates the committee on
the South East Coast Ambulance Service, with special focus on
changes since the last report of 8 March, especially in the areas
of performance, the recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report,
executive leadership development and other strategic operational
updates, or local performance and development initiatives of
interest for Surrey.
Minutes:
Witnesses:
Ryan Bird, ePCR Operations Manager, SECAmb
Peter Carvalho, Senior Contracts Manager
(Ambulance Contracts & IUC), Surrey Heartlands
Bethan Eaton Haskins, Executive Director
of Quality & Nursing, SECAmb
Kate Scribbins, Chief Executive, Healthwatch Surrey
Nick Markwick, Co-Chair, Surrey Coalition of Disabled
People
Key points
raised during the discussion:
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The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing gave a
summary of the report, including the following points.
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The report looked at performance, executive
development and future plans. Despite advances having been made,
the service still required radical improvement. SECAmb examined its
own performance from a quality perspective, not a financial
perspective.
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The incoming HR director of SECAmb could be
announced as Ali Mohammed. Details of new executive leadership,
including the new Chief Executive, were covered in the
report.
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SECAmb’s top priority was sustaining and
improving response times.
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SECAmb received an outstanding rating in the caring
category, which was a good morale boost for staff. They also
received an outstanding rating in the well-led
category.
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For category 1 and 2 calls (the most urgent), the
service was close to or exceeding targets. However, SECAmb remained
challenged with regard to category 3 and 4 calls, due to the lower
priority level.
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There were struggles in recruiting paramedics, which
might worsen when paramedics started working in primary care, as
this would make the job offer less attractive to some.
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Hospital handover delays were also an area of
concern. There needed to be system-wide change to tackle
this.
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Ofsted found two out of the three areas inspected in
the clinical education department less than satisfactory. Members
were assured that education programmes were still being run, but
were no longer allowed to be called apprenticeships. An independent
review of this had been commissioned.
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Whatever the outcome of Brexit, mutual aid had been
agreed upon in order to mitigate potential negative
impacts.
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A Member asked for more information on performance
issues in rural populations. The Executive Director explained that
there was a strategy to ensure that essential framework remained in
place in rural areas. The ePCR Operations Manager added that rural
areas were mainly where category 3 and 4 delays were seen. The
Senior Contracts Manager (Ambulance Contracts & IUC) remarked
that collaborative work was being done with regard to system
resilience and accessing local care pathways that could not
currently be accessed.
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A Member requested clarification regarding
SECAmb’s acquisition of the NHS 111 contract. The Executive
Director answered that the commissioning for the 111 and 999
services were separate, and that currently SECAmb ran the 999
contract but until now had not run the 111 service. Qualified
healthcare professionals would handle 111 calls where
necessary.
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Members emphasised the importance of SECAmb staff
having special training regarding mental health and learning
disabilities. For example, explaining the situation to patients
with autism was essential for alleviating anxieties that could be
more likely for autistic patients. The Executive Director explained
that there were mental health clinicians in the assessment centres
and this had had a significant impact on improving outcomes.
Members suggested that ...
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