Agenda item

Ambulance Support - Review of Hyper Acute Stroke Services in South Yorkshire, Bassetlaw and North Derbyshire and Review of Children's Surgery and Anaesthesia Services in South and Mid Yorkshire, Bassetlaw and North Derbyshire: Feedback and Discussion

Steve Rendi and Jackie Cole, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, and Peter Bainbridge, East Midlands Ambulance Service in attendance

Minutes:

5.1

The Committee received two briefing papers, which had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting, on Ambulance Support.  The first of these had been provided by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) and covered response times, staff training and stroke care in relation to Acute Stroke cases and further information in relation to Children’s Surgery.  The second briefing paper, from the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) outlined the way in which the service had begun to reconfigure the way in which it dealt with patients.

 

 

5.2

In attendance for this item were Jackie Cole and Mark Inman (YAS) and Peter Bainbridge (EMAS).

 

 

5.3

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

 

 

 

·                Whilst statistics showed that approximately two thirds of ambulance responses in Barnsley for suspected stroke patients (category C2T) were within target time, it was not possible to say what the performance for the other one third was. 

 

 

 

·                The YAS standard time for arrival at the hyper acute stroke centre was 60 minutes and it would not be possible to make comparisons with reported figures relating to London (30 minutes) until the final operating model had been completed.

 

 

 

·                Financial help was available to people who were struggling to meet the financial demands of having to travel long distances to visit friends and relatives who were in hospital.

 

 

 

·                The YAS did prioritise calls and always endeavoured to be with the patient as quickly as possible.  Patients would be called back in the event of any delay.

 

 

 

·                Increases in demand and turnaround times would be addressed when the final operating model for YAS was in place.

 

 

 

·                The important time to consider in stroke cases was the time from symptoms to treatment and education was an important factor in reducing this.

 

 

 

·                The EMAS had started to reconfigure the way in which it dealt with patients in 2010, with stroke patients in the Bassetlaw area of Nottinghamshire being conveyed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary since 2011.  All ambulance clinicians were trained in assessing patients to determine if they had had a stroke and all units accepted patients who were identified as FAST (face, arm, speech test) positive and had the necessary skills to manage them during their journey to hospital.  In addition, staff support measures had been introduced which included service directories on all vehicles, with telephone numbers and postcodes of the units.

 

 

 

·                In relation to reduced mortality, evidence was anecdotal with statistics only being available from individual stroke units.

 

 

 

·                In relation to setting the time for ambulance arrival, the YAS worked from an algorithm, which prompted questions, so that key details were obtained.

 

 

 

·                In making comparisons with the ambulance service in London, it should be noted that London was more compact and that larger units had shown a reduction in stay.  Furthermore, the larger volume of patients led to more sustainable units and improved experience.

 

 

 

·                It was felt that the EMAS reconfiguration was resulting in patients getting the right treatment in the right place at the right time.

 

 

 

·                In relation to heart attack patients, there were reduced mortality rates and part of the exercise was to ensure future proofing.

 

 

5.4

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

 

 

 

(a)       thanks Jackie Cole, Mark Inman and Peter Bainbridge for their contribution to the meeting;

 

 

 

(b)       notes the contents of the circulated briefing papers and the responses to questions; and

 

 

 

(c)        requests that officers give consideration to the provision of appropriate publicity of any financial assistance available to people, who were having difficulty in meeting the cost of travelling long distances to visit hospital patients.