Trust welcomes report on ambulance service productivity

27 September 2018

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) has welcomed a new report on the productivity of ambulance services (published today, 27 September 2018 by NHS Improvement).

The report, by Lord Carter, sets out a number of recommendations on how ambulance services can work more efficiently and collaboratively, with technology and innovation highlighted as a key driver for improved performance.

Along with all ambulance services nationally, SECAmb has been working closely with its NHS partners and commissioners locally, as well as NHS Improvement, to establish where it can make a greater impact on patient care.

In recent months, SECAmb has invested significantly in improved technology in its Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) with the introduction of a new Computer Aided Dispatch system and with the move to a new centre for the West of its region in Crawley, West Sussex.

It has also committed to invest and renew its fleet with new vehicles currently hitting the roads across its region at a rate of around four each week and a total of 101 new vehicles purchased this financial year.

The Trust is also working closely with NHS organisations locally with a recent examples including the launch of a new Pregnancy Advice Line in its operations centre with Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership and a pilot service across Coastal West Sussex to help people who have suffered a fall at home.

SECAmb Chief Executive Daren Mochrie said: “We welcome Lord Carter’s report and I am pleased that it highlights the significant contribution made by ambulance staff every day to provide excellent patient care, despite rising demand.

“I am pleased with the progress SECAmb is making across a number of areas but recognise that the report highlights a number of ways in which we and other ambulance services can work more efficiently to benefit staff, our patients, and the wider NHS.

“I am looking forward to working closely with my colleagues at SECAmb, fellow ambulance trusts, and the whole NHS to ensure that the recommendations of the report are addressed and deliver real benefits in the years ahead.”

The report is available to download here: https://improvement.nhs.uk/about-us/corporate-publications/publications/lord-carters-review-unwarranted-variation-nhs-ambulance-trusts/