The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) has welcomed the results of a Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey of over 2,800 users of the NHS ambulance service’s innovative ‘Hear and Treat’ system which found that the public are generally extremely positive about their experiences of the service.
AACE was particularly pleased to see that the survey found the majority of respondents had confidence in staff, that they were treated with respect and dignity and felt reassured.
Despite the continued year-on-year rise in demand for ambulance services, patients who are seriously ill or who have potentially life-threatening conditions will always be seen by the ambulance service in-person, as quickly as possible.
However, sometimes a clinician in the ambulance control centre will speak to patients or their carers over the telephone if it appears they have a less serious condition. This is called ‘Hear and Treat’ which means an ambulance response will not necessarily be sent at that time. Instead, patients will be given more appropriate healthcare advice based on what they tell the clinician over the phone.
Martin Flaherty OBE, Managing Director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) said:
It is vital that the ambulance service finds new ways to manage increasing demand appropriately, and Hear and Treat is a highly innovative solution that is helping us to do this whilst maintaining the highest levels of patient care. Therefore I am delighted that the results of this CQC survey have shown that the public are very positive about this new way of helping them to get the most appropriate care.”
Despite the encouraging results of the survey, AACE has taken on board the fact that the findings of the CQC survey suggest that a small proportion of callers to ‘999’ still expected an ambulance or further help to be sent out, even after they had been given excellent advice over the telephone which showed they did not really need an ambulance.
The survey highlighted an issue of some people reporting that they did not understand the advice that was given to them, or disagreed with the decision not to send them an ambulance, the latter usually when they felt the reasons had not been explained well enough to them by the call handler.
Continued Martin Flaherty:
“This is an important finding and one that ambulance Trusts will now look to address through better communication with patients and improved staff training.”
Examples of the type of advice a clinician working on the Hear and Treat system might offer could include advising the patient to go to a walk-in centre, arrange a GP appointment, visit their pharmacist or take advice on self care over the phone from the clinician.
