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03/07/2006
Government announces investment in ambulances
NHS ambulance trusts in England have been given a £25 million boost in order to help improve response times for the most urgent calls.
The scheme, announced by Health Minister Lord Warner, has been set up to deliver additional investment in new control room technology and vehicles that will allow ambulance trusts to achieve even higher standards in responding to life-threatening emergencies.
The scheme has two main stages - funding for developments to initiate infrastructure, technological or service delivery changes and rewards for those trusts which deliver the performance changes and make real and sustained improvements in performance.
Speaking at the Ambulance Service Association's annual Ambex conference in Harrogate on Friday, Lord Warner said: "Ambulance trusts already do a brilliant job, caring for people in often difficult circumstances. But we want to help the service secure even more improvements in the quality of care it provides for patients.
"We are making changes to ambulance response time requirements that will ensure a better performance from all trusts and greater certainty for patients. But to implement these, many ambulance trusts will have to make changes to their control rooms and to their vehicle fleets.
"The incentive scheme we are launching will help them to make these changes and deliver the improved performance that we all want to see across the service."
The change to response time requirements was a key recommendation from last year's strategic review of ambulance services in England, conducted by Peter Bradley, national ambulance advisor and chief executive of London Ambulance Service. It recommended that ambulance trusts must ensure all 'Category A' calls - the most urgent calls - are responded to within eight minutes of being connected to the control room.
Currently, the clock 'starts' after the call handler has taken down key information from the patient. However, this has led to some inconsistencies around the country in responding to the calls.
Lord Warner said that by starting the clock when calls are connected, the ambulance service will end these inconsistencies, reduce waiting times and improve outcomes for patients.
However, Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Each local trust must be enabled to deliver the best possible service. Performance should measure outcomes not just response times.
"However, the delay in target response times is typical of a government that uses a sliding scale to achieve its objectives. It will confuse patients and staff and do nothing to speed up the end of the postcode lottery in response times."
Full implementation of the new standard is now expected by April 1, 2008 and the new incentive scheme will reward ambulance trusts which secure improvements in performance as they work towards this deadline.
The implementation date has been extended by 12 months to allow the new trusts enough time to make the necessary organisational changes.
(KMcA/SP)
The scheme, announced by Health Minister Lord Warner, has been set up to deliver additional investment in new control room technology and vehicles that will allow ambulance trusts to achieve even higher standards in responding to life-threatening emergencies.
The scheme has two main stages - funding for developments to initiate infrastructure, technological or service delivery changes and rewards for those trusts which deliver the performance changes and make real and sustained improvements in performance.
Speaking at the Ambulance Service Association's annual Ambex conference in Harrogate on Friday, Lord Warner said: "Ambulance trusts already do a brilliant job, caring for people in often difficult circumstances. But we want to help the service secure even more improvements in the quality of care it provides for patients.
"We are making changes to ambulance response time requirements that will ensure a better performance from all trusts and greater certainty for patients. But to implement these, many ambulance trusts will have to make changes to their control rooms and to their vehicle fleets.
"The incentive scheme we are launching will help them to make these changes and deliver the improved performance that we all want to see across the service."
The change to response time requirements was a key recommendation from last year's strategic review of ambulance services in England, conducted by Peter Bradley, national ambulance advisor and chief executive of London Ambulance Service. It recommended that ambulance trusts must ensure all 'Category A' calls - the most urgent calls - are responded to within eight minutes of being connected to the control room.
Currently, the clock 'starts' after the call handler has taken down key information from the patient. However, this has led to some inconsistencies around the country in responding to the calls.
Lord Warner said that by starting the clock when calls are connected, the ambulance service will end these inconsistencies, reduce waiting times and improve outcomes for patients.
However, Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Each local trust must be enabled to deliver the best possible service. Performance should measure outcomes not just response times.
"However, the delay in target response times is typical of a government that uses a sliding scale to achieve its objectives. It will confuse patients and staff and do nothing to speed up the end of the postcode lottery in response times."
Full implementation of the new standard is now expected by April 1, 2008 and the new incentive scheme will reward ambulance trusts which secure improvements in performance as they work towards this deadline.
The implementation date has been extended by 12 months to allow the new trusts enough time to make the necessary organisational changes.
(KMcA/SP)
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Green light for ambulances on speeding fine problem
Ambulance drivers will no longer be issued with speeding fines when en-route to emergency 999 calls, Health Minister Rosie Winterton announced today. The Ambulance Service Association (ASA) estimates that it costs some Ambulance Trusts up to £1million a year to deal with the paperwork involved in proving that vehicles are responding to emergencies.
Green light for ambulances on speeding fine problem
Ambulance drivers will no longer be issued with speeding fines when en-route to emergency 999 calls, Health Minister Rosie Winterton announced today. The Ambulance Service Association (ASA) estimates that it costs some Ambulance Trusts up to £1million a year to deal with the paperwork involved in proving that vehicles are responding to emergencies.
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Ambulance response times 'wrong'
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Ambulance call-outs to be tailored to patients' need
Patients with non-urgent conditions who dial 999 will not automatically be sent an ambulance, but may instead receive treatment at home or from other healthcare professionals, under changes announced today by Health Minister Rosie Winterton.
Ambulance call-outs to be tailored to patients' need
Patients with non-urgent conditions who dial 999 will not automatically be sent an ambulance, but may instead receive treatment at home or from other healthcare professionals, under changes announced today by Health Minister Rosie Winterton.
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