Agenda item

Report by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The report updates the Committee on the Trust’s improvement journey and asks it to assess the performance of services provided by SECAmb and whether these have improved in line with the requirements set out by the Care Quality Commission.

54.1     The Committee considered a report by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) (copy appended to the signed minutes) and learned, in addition to what was in the report, that: -

·         The Care Quality Commission (CQC) observed the latest SECAmb Board meeting and acknowledged the Trust is making good progress in the ‘must do’ areas

·         The Trust has appointed a Programme Director for Culture Change and has additional support through the Sussex system to deliver a People & Culture Strategy

·         An Emergency Responder Team has started this week in the north of the county to attend 999 calls and is trained to help uninjured patients off the floor after falls, thereby reducing the number of people who need to attend falls and the number of people that need to go to hospital

·         SECAmb has been involved in developing the new stroke services model and is satisfied that any increased travel time for patients is outweighed by the benefits of attending a specialised stroke centre

·         Telemedicine trials in Kent are showing that overall this reduces the time it takes stroke patients to get to the appropriate treatment centre

54.2     Summary of responses to members’ comments and questions: -

·         Strike action impacted differently in different areas, but overall performance has improved on strike days with military and managerial support and reduced calls

·         There were no more make-ready centres planned for West Sussex

·         To help embed culture change

Ø  all managers were to take sexualised behaviour training

Ø  there is an ‘Until it Stops’ campaign promoting a productive, safe working environment and escalating concerns quickly

Ø  operational managers have attended away days centred around organisational values and conduct

Ø  there is zero tolerance to bullying

Ø  staff feel more comfortable raising concerns, which are dealt with quicker than before

Ø  whistleblowing policies have been revised

Ø  there are two ‘speak up’ guardians for staff to talk to

Ø  much work has been completed on ‘You said, we did’

Ø  raising concerns is not part of a formal process

·         Local relationships are key to improving handover times at hospitals

·         SECAmb, Worthing Hospital and St Richard’s Hospital have joint operational managers’ meetings to discuss delays

·         SECAmb has no evidence that people are being taken to A&E by private transport

·         Category 3 and 4 patients can be helped by using ‘Hear and Treat’, forwarding appropriate referrals to urgent community response teams, using virtual wards, care in the community and a new pathways consultation tool

·         East Surrey Hospital (ESH) has more handover delays, but also has more conveyances in – the Clinical Assessment Unit (walk in service) in Crawley is helping to reduce the number of conveyances to ESH as are improved relationships between SECAmb and ESH

54.3     Resolved – that the Committee

                     i.        Has received assurance on the improvement journey and the ongoing improvement relating to response and handover times

                    ii.        Requests data on the number of people using walk in services and those that make their way to A&E using private transport

                   iii.        Requests a further report to its Business Planning Group at an appropriate time