Strategic Updates

Image: Surrey pregnancy advice line celebrates five years since launch
6 April 2023

Surrey pregnancy advice line celebrates five years since launch

 A Surrey pregnancy advice line based at South East Coast Ambulance Service’s (SECAmb) Emergency Operations Centre in Crawley is celebrating after handling more than 200,000 calls in the five years since its launch in April 2018. The Call a Midwife Surrey Advice Line, which was established by Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership as part of the national NHS Better Births plan. It available

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Image: Trust appoints new Chief Executive
23 March 2023

Trust appoints new Chief Executive

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Chief Executive. Simon Weldon, currently Group Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group, will be joining the Trust on 24 April 2023. He takes up the position from Siobhan Melia who has held the post on an interim basis since July 2022, and is returning to her substantiv

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Image: SECAmb celebrates a decade of 111 service
13 March 2023

SECAmb celebrates a decade of 111 service

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (SECAmb), is celebrating a decade of running the NHS 111 service across much of its region. The Trust, which now runs the service across Kent, Medway and Sussex, handled its first 111 call 10 years ago as part of a soft launch of the service in the region. The NHS 111 service took over from NHS Direct, a nationally-run service that began in

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Image: Trust publishes cardiac arrest report and urges public to learn to save a life
21 February 2023

Trust publishes cardiac arrest report and urges public to learn to save a life

With more than three-quarters of all resuscitations attempts by South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) crews taking place in the home, this February Heart Month, people are being asked if they would be willing and able to perform CPR on a loved one. The revealing statistic comes from a new report on out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) published by SECAmb. The report, covering April 2021 to

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Image: New ambulance centre to become operational in the summer
9 February 2023

New ambulance centre to become operational in the summer

A new multi-purpose ambulance centre is expected to become operational this summer. The South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (SECAmb) centre, in Bredgar Road, Gillingham, will consist of a Make Ready Centre, Emergency Operations Centre, (EOC), and NHS 111 contact centre. It will be the first ambulance centre in the country to bring all three functions together under one roof. T

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Image: SECAmb to trial new volunteer Emergency Responder role
27 January 2023

SECAmb to trial new volunteer Emergency Responder role

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (SECAmb) is to trial a new volunteer Emergency Responder role. The trial, which will cover Ashford in Kent, specifically Romney Marsh, and Tangmere, in West Sussex, focusing on the A272 corridor between Billinghurst and the Hampshire border, will last two years. The two Emergency Responder (ER) schemes will each consist of 12 community first

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Image: Trust announces two new board appointments
27 January 2023

Trust announces two new board appointments

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (SECAmb), has announced the appointment of two new Board members. Joining the executive team as Chief Medical Officer is Dr Rachel Oaten, while Max Puller joins the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director for an initial term of three years. Rachel will join the Trust on 1 February with Max taking up his role from 6 February. Dr Oaten

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Image: Trust takes delivery of newly-configured ambulances
23 January 2023

Trust takes delivery of newly-configured ambulances

As we continue to develop our operational fleet, South East Coast Ambulance Service, (SECAmb), staff will have the opportunity to view a newly-configured Fiat ambulance, which has been amended using feedback from a range of clinical staff, union representatives and the Trust’s fleet department. The new vehicle, which include changes aimed at improving functionality for crews whilst also fitting th

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Image: Trust declares Critical Incident as pressure on services continues
20 December 2022

Trust declares Critical Incident as pressure on services continues

SECAmb took a decision yesterday evening, (Monday 19 December), to declare a Critical Incident. This decision was taken following a period of more than a week of sustained pressure across both our 999 and 111 services which has significantly impacted on our ability to respond to patients. We would like to thank all our staff and volunteers for their hard work and commitment in recent days in what

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Image: Trust to roll out new community falls service
24 November 2022

Trust to roll out new community falls service

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (SECAmb), is rolling out a new clinical pathway aimed at reducing the length of time someone who has fallen waits for a response. Falls make up a significant number of 999 calls and many do not initially result in significant injury to patients. However, delays to such calls, as ambulance crews are sent to higher priority incidents, can lead

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