South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMb) were delighted to welcome colleagues and members of the public to our Annual Members Meeting recently – an opportunity to reflect on achievements and discuss priorities for the year ahead.

The event, which took place at K2 Crawley on Friday, 12 September, gave attendees the opportunity to engage with colleagues at a variety of stalls on the Trust’s current work and hear about its plans for the future.

Attendees got the chance to have a go at life-saving skills thanks to our volunteer community first responders who were on hand to teach CPR. There was also an opportunity to see inside some of our vehicles, including our Hazardous Area Response Team’s (HART) incidence response unit and a joint response vehicle used by SECAmb and Kent Police.

Our retirement associations shared their experience of the ambulance service through the decades, and our networks, including Pride at SECAmb, Gender Equality Network and our Armed Forces Network spoke with attendees on how they support colleagues within the Trust.

Visitors also got the chance to find out how they can support the work of the Trust within our communities through our recently relaunched SECAmb Charity.  

The formal meeting included detail on SECAmb’s work over the past year with a focus on our clinically-led strategy to reduce the number of unnecessary ambulances being dispatched, the introduction of unscheduled care navigation hubs and how this supports the wider NHS 10-year plan.

With increased demand expected on the emergency services between now and 2029, Chief Executive Simon Weldon shared plans to manage this. This includes a stronger focus on virtual care through hear & treat responses and developing our emergency responder volunteering strategy to help improve patient outcomes within our communities.

A highlight of the meeting was a demonstration given by our community first responders narrated by Head of Community Resilience, Danny Dixon, where the team demonstrated the benefits of a Raizer chair device that CFRs can use to help patients who have suffered a non-injury fall.

SECAmb Chair, Michael Whitehouse said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who organised this year’s AMM meeting, the colleagues who have given up their time to showcase the different areas of our vital work and to everyone who attended to support us.

“I have seen significant changes over the last few years within SECAmb and the positive impact this has had for colleagues and patients. I’m confident in our strategy going forward that we will continue to deliver the highest standards of care to our patients while navigating the current challenges facing the NHS.”