Issue - meetings

To receive a presentation from the North West Ambulance Service on performance and the Quality Account.

The Committee received a presentation by Cath Galaska, Director of Services Delivery, Dave Kitchin, Head of Service for Cheshire and Merseyside and Ian Moses, Head of Service Development from the Ambulance Service, on performance and the Quality Account.

The presentation detailed:

• Care Quality Commission Registration
• Actions undertaken in relation to the Quality Account
• Areas for improvement in 2010/2011
• The national standards for categorising emergency calls
• NWAS performance standards to be achieved across the North West
• The Headline performance data for Central and eastern Cheshire PCT
• Service Developments

With regard to category A response times, it was noted that only 67.47% of cases were reached within 8 minutes and that this would be difficult to address without additional resources.

Members commented on the successful First Responders Pilot Project ran in Nantwich and agreed that, where possible, similar arrangement should be implemented in other parts of the Borough.

In answer to a specific question on staff morale, Dave Kitchin responded that when staff are busy, and may be the only available resource in a large geographic footprint, it was possible that they might be frustrated when called out to cases where the cause of the illness or injury was alcohol related.

NWAS community resuscitation officers were eager to engage with local authorities and others to develop a register of defibrillators held in the community, which NWAS would hold alongside its own register of community based defibrillators, that had put in place through the 'defibrillators in public places' scheme. NWAS was not responsible directly for other agencies defibrillators, though it was willing to work with the agencies and give advice in return for the ability to hold a record of that defibrillator.

RESOLVED

That the presentation be noted.