To consider and comment on the performance of the East of England Ambulance Service in Central Bedfordshire.

The Chairman welcomed Chris Hartley, Communications Director, East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAST) who introduced the performance report for the Ambulance Service that covered the East of England and Central Bedfordshire.  The Committee were advised that the six priorities had been agreed to improve performance and had lead to significant improvement that included:-

·         An increase in staffing levels and ambulance cover

·         An upskilled workforce and improved career pathways for frontline staff

·         A new vision and set of values being developed with the views of staff

Simon King, Senior Locality Manager EEAST briefed Members on the performance in the locality which included a fully staffed team.  Staff’s views to improve the rota system had been acted upon, which had helped to increase staff morale and placed Bedfordshire at the top of the performance table in the East of England.

In light of the report and update and further clarification provided by the Communications Director and Senior Locality Manager, Members of the Committee discussed the following issues in detail:

·         Whether Voluntary Groups could be provided with a list of Community First Responders (CFR).  The Senior Local Manager advised that the Ambulance Trust provided the training to CFR and would provide contact details of the Trainer to the Committee

·         Concern that negative newspaper reports continue to hamper the EEAST in their work to improve the service.  The Communications Director advised that the Board of Directors had been replaced and the new Board have planned a workshop with Unison to review the findings of the NHS staff survey and the Unison survey.  Meetings had been arranged with BBC Look East and will be arranged with Beds on Sunday to reflect on the good work being done by the Trust.

·         What steps had been taken to retain staff at the Trust.  The Communications Director advised staff were able to progress to more senior positions within the Trust and develop their skills.

·         Why the Trust had decided to reduce the number of first response cars.  The Communications Director advised it had been a policy decision to rebalance the number of cars to ambulances as there was a shortage of ambulances in the area.

·         Whether the Trust was confident it would achieve a balanced budget at the end of the financial year.  The Communications Director advised the Trust had made a £10m saving and had received significant transitional funding from the 19 Clinical Commissioning Groups in the East of England. As a result the Trust would come in on budget this financial year.

·         What support paramedics received when dealing with patients suffering from a mental illness.  The Senior Locality Manager advised this was a big challenge for the Trust, however, a crisis concordat had been signed which enabled Mental Health workers to support paramedics.

The Communications Director invited the Committee to the Bedford Control room and meet front line crews.

RECOMMENDED

1.    The East of England Ambulance Trust be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee to update the Committee on its performance.

2.    That a visit to the Bedford Control room be arranged for Members of the Committee.