By Kevin Core
The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
YORKSHIRE, England —A scrutiny panel set up in the wake of concerns about Yorkshire Ambulance Service has been told: Things are getting better.
The panel was established to investigate the organisation’s failure to hit a target to reach 75% of the most serious cases within eight minutes, and to query its performance in Kirklees.
In June, figures for 2009/10 showed it got to only 66% of the Category A calls in Kirklees within the allotted time. The figure was the worst in Yorkshire.
But yesterday it was claimed the target has now been met, and Ambulance Service director of operations Keith Prior has said he is confident the improvement will be sustained.
He told councillors: “In terms of clinical care we were rated excellent but that never seemed to get a mention. It’s a pity that we couldn’t marry that with our response times but we are getting there now.”
The panel, chaired by Clr Elizabeth Smaje, heard the director, along with assistant director Tasnim Ali, explain that their data did not distinguish between rural and urban areas.
Clr David Woodhead asked: “In South Yorkshire do you anticipate that the response times are longer?” Mr Prior responded: “It’s much more difficult in places like Denby Dale, Skelmanthorpe and Kirkburton. We do look at performance in detail in those areas but we don’t publish that, because the target is to reach 75% across the board. We are now moving in the right direction.”
He also said that a 200-point plan to improve response times had been established and 113 aspects of it had been introduced.
In June the Category A target was being met in 70% of cases and this had risen to 76% in July and August.
From being the worst trust for response times earlier in the year, it has now risen to fifth place in the country.
Rapid response vehicles and two-man ambulances were deployed across Yorkshire based on software which predicted key points of demand. When a call was received by the control centre the ambulance would be on the move often before it was fully clear what the emergency was, but stood down if it was later discovered to be less serious.
Ms Ali revealed that a series of conversations were taking place with hospitals to improve the “transition time”, when a patient is brought in.
She said diagonal parking bays and less time in the “trolley transfer” could play a role and free up more ambulances for the road.
Mr Prior added that at this point the ambulance crews undertake a meticulous clean of the vehicle, adding: “The more complex the case the longer this takes to turn around, particularly if it has been a ‘nasty’ job.”
He responded to concerns about the amount of overtime used to improve responses saying: “We are not making people do excessive hours, we make sure we are sticking to the working time directive. Our overtime fluctuates each month but it’s not excessive.
“We have been conscious that we do not pressure staff to simply drive faster, we don’t want them putting themselves at risk.”
They also said that measures were in place to recruit and combat a national shortage of paramedics.
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