Issue - meetings

To consider a progress report on the implementation of North West Ambulance Service’s Communities Strategy.

At its meeting in March 2013 the Committee had examined the Communities Strategy during the consultation phase and had resolved to consider the six month progress report when it became available.

Sarah Smith, from North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), presented a six month progress report on the NWAS Communities Strategy 2013-2015. The Committee had been consulted on the strategy in March 2013 before it had been implemented. The progress report contained a summary of initiatives instigated to achieve the five main aims of the strategy which were:

·         Acting on the views of patients and their communities

·         Providing a seamless service for patients, in partnership with other health and social care bodies

·         Ensuring equality of access to services and valuing diversity

·         Protecting the environment and being a good corporate citizen

·         Promoting healthy and safe lives.

The report stated that positive progress had been made across all aspects of the strategy and there were currently no concerns to indicate that achievement of outcomes by 2015 could not be delivered.

Members asked questions and the following points arose:

·         NWAS’s Community Committee was a sub group of the Council of Governors which held the Board of Directors to account. There were four Governors from each County.

·         To relieve more pressure on A&E departments paramedics were being trained to provide more care to patients at home to reduce hospital admissions.

·         NWAS still used a variety of alternatives to an ambulance to transport some patients including taxi services. There was an opportunity for NWAS to work with the Council’s Community Transport Service to deliver suitable transport options.

·         St John’s Ambulance was commissioned by NWAS to provide support services. St John’s was only used for none urgent calls but volunteers still needed to exercise judgement when considering whether to take patients to hospital or not.

·         Communities were able to assist in reducing pressure on ambulance services by training more people to provide first aid and transport facilities.

·         Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) were responsible for commissioning ambulance services. As individual CCGs covered small areas compared to the area covered by NWAS all the CCGs in Cheshire County had agreed to pool funds to jointly commission their services from NWAS to make the process more efficient.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report be noted

(b)  That NWAS be requested to provide the performance data on ambulance response times in the Borough