Following the publication of NHS England’s report about the problems related to the 111 call handling project operated by South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) last winter, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) recognises that SECAmb has accepted all of the recommendations contained in the report, and understands that the Trust has had a comprehensive action plan in place to address these issues for some time, which has been agreed with their local commissioners.
We also note that SECAmb has welcomed Monitor’s engagement regarding this issue and will work closely with Monitor going forwards.
It remains clear that the ambulance service as a whole operates under severe pressure during winter, and AACE acknowledges that Trusts need to be innovative in finding solutions to maintain effective services during these difficult periods – as long as they are safe and appropriately implemented.
A Monitor report published in September 2015 entitled, ‘A&E delays: why did patients wait longer last winter?’, reflected the increased demand ambulance services face year-on-year, and acknowledged that ambulance services are doing a huge amount to play their part in managing that demand and avoiding inappropriate transfers to emergency departments.
Finally, it is clear that SECAmb has learned significant lessons from this episode and that best practice can now be shared across all ambulance services to ensure similar mistakes are never made again.
