South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Foundation Times
Governor elections 2019 Your vote matters!
Issue 26 Summer 2019
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Meet a governor 8
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Meet a member
Latest news from the Council of Governors
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Your vote matters!
Global Digital Exemplar
Issue 26 Summer 2019 If you would like to submit an article for Foundation Times please send it to getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk. Foundation Times is produced by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. Editor: Margaret Eaglestone Design: Nathan Shelton Cover photo: James O’Kennedy
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Issue 26 Summer 2019
WELCOME Welcome to the summer issue of the Foundation Times This issue is packed with the latest news from SCAS including information on the upcoming governor elections and how you can make a difference. We hope that you enjoy it! Your feedback is always welcome at getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk
FRONT COVER PHOTO OPPORTUNITY If you are interested in photography and would like to see your image on the front cover of the next issue, please send it to us along with details of where it was taken to getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk
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Your health matters!
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Issue 26 Summer 2019
Demand for our services is increasing every year and in the last 12 months we attended 483,000 incidents for 999, handled over 1.2 million calls to NHS 111 and undertook 1 million patient transport journeys. We are all likely to need high quality healthcare at some point in our lives. We are proud to deliver safe, effective and responsive services at South Central Ambulance Service and we rely on you, our members, as an essential part of our future development as an NHS Foundation Trust. We count on your feedback and local knowledge in helping us to deliver, improve and shape our services. Thank you for your on-going support. If you want to get more involved, you can join us at our public talks – Your Health Matters. These take place in the evenings across the counties we serve and provide us with an opportunity to keep you up to date with developments and for you to share your insights with us. The next talk will be held in the autumn. We will contact you nearer the time and advertise it on our website for you to view. Please contact getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk if you would like more information. Another way of getting more involved is to join the Council of Governors. The governors, with the support of our members, ensure our work is in keeping with our values, meeting the needs of our local populations and supporting everyone who uses our services to make us a successful Foundation Trust. The nominations will run from 30 September to 21 October with elections from 13 November to 3 December, you can find out more here.
Will Hancock, Chief Executive
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Issue Issue26 26Summer Summer 2019
Meet a governor: Chas McGill MBE Chas McGill joined SCAS as a public governor for Hampshire in 2018. back to the community. This opportunity to support, encourage and engage with all involved in the work of SCAS now and in the future is something he is very passionate about.
Chas is the longest standing operational fire officer in the UK and has been awarded an MBE for his contribution to public service and partnership working. Over those years he has built up brilliant working relationships with other agencies such as SCAS, police, local authorities, Her Majesty’s Coastguard, RNLI and the Environment Agency. He has also worked directly with and sat on the Local Resilience Forum representing Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
During the time he has been a governor he has set up and delivered a joint emergency services exercise working with Hampshire Fire and Rescue, Hampshire Police, Hampshire Coastguard and the RNLI at Hurst Castle. He is keen to meet staff and has visited and observed at ambulance stations in Hampshire. He is always impressed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of staff and is keen to raise awareness of the emergency services to the public to represent their views.
He continues to volunteer for the fire service and is bringing his passion for people and working on the frontline to SCAS. He believes that his 50 years of operational service and working in the local community has set him in good stead to offer his real life experiences and give something
If you would like to get in touch with Chas you can email our membership office at governors@scas.nhs.uk
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Meet a member: Maddy Maddy Radburn knows a lot about our services. Not only is she an active member of SCAS but she is married to a retired paramedic, John Radburn. Maddy joined SCAS as a member in 2012 when we became a Foundation Trust because she is interested in the emergency services and wanted to be well informed so that she can share accurate information with the public. She believes that governors can make a difference as they give members a voice so that you can have your say and be listened to.
Maddy has been working and volunteering for the NHS for over 35 years. Fascinated by medical equipment, she began working on the development of equipment in the John Radcliffe’s Special Care Baby Unit. She then moved into the Clinical Engineering Department where she became the administrator responsible for the purchase and maintenance of medical devices across the NHS in Oxfordshire.
“You can vote for a governor to represent you and your healthcare needs” said Maddy.
In 1980 she joined the Oxfordshire Ambulance League of Friends, helping to raise funds to purchase three of the newly developed defibrillators which cost £3000 each. It was during this time that she met John and within eighteen months they were married! John has been involved in the evolution and development of the ambulance service since 1974 when council manual workers with first aid skills joined the NHS to become the fully trained paramedics that we work with today.
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Do you want to make a difference to your local emergency and patient transport services? We have vacancies for governors to represent the interests of our public members and stakeholders in our local communities.
We have vacancies for Public Governors in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire
This is to help provide the best patient care in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.
If you’ve got what it takes to join our team, go to our website to sign up as a member and find out how to become a Governor.
To be eligible to be a Governor you must be a member of the constituency you wish to stand for and be 16 or over. Members have until the autumn to complete an application to become a Governor.
We provide 999, NHS 111 and patient transport services in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire and patient transport services in Surrey and Sussex. Governors have lots of important responsibilities such as appointing and holding to account the Chair and other Non-Executive Directors, contributing to the development of the Trust’s strategy, and engaging with the members who elect them. Governors need to be confident communicators and able to speak to our members and the public about complex healthcare matters.
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Latest news from the Council of Governors
The last formal meeting of the Council of Governors (CoG) was held on the 24 July 2019 and was attended by 19 of the 23 governors currently in post.
The meeting was preceded by an informative briefing/presentation from Alex Lochrane, CEO, on the work of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Charity. During the formal meeting, a number of key items were discussed (and approved where appropriate) including:
performance, highlighting key challenges and achievements and provided an update of the outcomes of the 2018 staff survey. It was also confirmed that Barry Liscomb had stepped down from his role as Lead Governor after two successful years, with Bob Duggan announced as his replacement. Mark Davis was elected as Deputy Lead Governor.
• Receiving both the Annual Accounts and Annual Report for 2018/19, and the Auditors report – external auditors, Grant Thornton, were in attendance for this item
There are seven governor vacancies across the four counties. the nominations will run from 30 September to 21 October and the elections will run from 13 November to 3 December. You can find out more here.
• The re-appointment of one of the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs)
Over the past year, the governors have participated in developmental workshops aimed at developing key skills over several areas including: communication, meeting efficiency, working relationships and engagement. These workshops have been a huge success and have also enabled the governors to get to know each other and the non-executive team better. The final report from these workshops will be presented at the next CoG meeting in October.
• Small changes in remuneration levels for the Chair and NEDs, following a comprehensive review • Agreeing the recruitment process for the recruitment of a new NED Will Hancock, Chief Executive also gave a presentation on current performance and the 2018 staff survey results and action plans, providing Governors with an opportunity to ask questions.
Formal Council of Governors meetings are open to Trust members and the public. The next meeting is being held on Thursday 3 October 2019 from 18:30 – 21:00 at Shaw House in Newbury. For further details about the meeting, please contact the Company Secretary company. company.secretary@scas.nhs.uk
A formal meeting of the CoG was held on 9 April 2019 and was attended by 16 of the 26 governors. During the meeting, Will Hancock, Chief Executive, gave a presentation of the 2018/19 10
Issue 26 Summer 2019
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Your vote matters!
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Issue 26 Summer 2019
SCAS is holding governor elections for seven public governors this year. The nominations will run from 30 September to 21 October with elections running from 13 November to 3 December. Seven seats are vacant on the Council of Governors.
Who runs the elections? The election is run by an independent, external election company. What is the Council of Governors? The Council of Governors is made up of governors: 15 public governors – elected from and by our public members 5 staff governors – elected from and by our staff members 6 appointed governors – nominated from and by our partner organisations Why are some people appointed rather than elected? In order to ensure local accountability, there are both elected and appointed governors. Elected governors represent members in our public and staff constituencies. Appointed governors represent the partner organisations that we work with such as councils, academic institutes, commissioner groups and volunteer services. We also have appointed governors to represent the views of local community groups. What is the difference between a member and a governor? Our membership community is made up of public and staff, with members voting to elect representatives (governors) onto our Council of Governors. Governors are responsible for representing members and the public and engaging with them to share their views and opinions with the Trust’s Board of Directors. Who is eligible to vote in an election? You are eligible to vote in an election if you are registered as a member of our Foundation Trust in the member constituency for which the election is being held. 13
When does the election process start and when do I vote? At the start of the governor election process, an independent, external election company will issue a “Notice of Election� which includes an election timetable. All election documents are published on our website https://www.scas.nhs.uk/. Election notifications and papers are usually sent via post directly from the election company to all relevant members in the constituencies where governor seats are open for election. Voting packs are also sent directly to members via post as part of this process which includes the deadline date that votes are to be completed by and returned to the election company via post. How do I know if I am a member? If you can provide your name and contact details to the Foundation Trust Membership and Engagement Manager they will be able to let you know if you are registered as a member and, if you are, which membership constituency you are in. Membership is FREE with public membership open to anyone aged 14 years or over who lives in the South Central region or is connected with SCAS. The public member constituency is subdivided into the following areas:
Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire
Hampshire Berkshire
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Issue 26 Summer 2019
The staff member constituency is subdivided into the following staff groups: 999 Operations - North 999 Operations – South Contact centres including NHS111 and EOC PTS logistics field staff Corporate/support/other
Lena Samuels, Chair of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Governors have an important role to play in representing the voice of patients and citizens in helping to shape our services. Therefore, we are keen to hear from people who are passionate about delivering high quality health care and who enjoy engaging with and seeking the views of people in the communities we serve." If you are not currently a member and are interested in becoming one, contact the Foundation Trust Membership Office for a paper form (contact details below) or alternatively, complete an online form available on our website here. As part of the NHS membership application process, you will be asked to supply your personal data, with any data that you supply being used only to contact you about the Trust’s Membership and/or other related issues, will be processed for these purposes only, will not be shared with third parties and will be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act. If you would like to get in touch with a governor you can do so at the following address: Company Secretary South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust 7-8 Talisman Business Centre Talisman Road Bicester Oxfordshire OX26 6HR Or you can send an email to governors@scas.nhs.uk
The nominations will run from 30 September to 21 October with elections from 13 November to 3 December. 15
The latest research at SCAS
The Prehospital Randomised Assessment of a Mechanical Compression Device in Cardiac Arrest (PARAMEDIC) compared the effect of mechanical compressions versus manual in out of-hospital-cardiac arrest. The study found that there was no difference in survival between the two trial groups.
The PARAMEDIC-2 trial was a double blind randomised controlled trial comparing adrenaline and placebo in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The trial found no difference in survival after thirty days between the two groups.
The Rapid Intervention with Glyceryl trinitrate in Hypertensive stroke –2 trial was a multi-centre randomised trial exploring the use of trans dermal GTN patches on hyper-acute stroke patients and evaluating the impact on long term neurological outcome for patients. The results of the trial are expected later in the year.
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The VAN study looked at reasons for variations in non-conveyance rates between the ambulance services. Researchers found that variation in the availability and use of advanced paramedics as well as management perception of the risks associated with non-conveyance were key.
The Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcome (OHCAO) project is a long term prospective study evaluating standardised data gathered from out of hospital cardiac arrest patients. Data collection is predicted to continue throughout 2018.
You can find out more about research at SCAS here To get involved, share your ideas or case studies, email: research@scas.nhs.uk
Featured in twenty-one publications
Made twentyseven conference presentations
Won two presentation prizes
Produced five poster presentations at conferences
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RAP: Feels like family Paul Anfield worked in the ambulance service for over 35 years as a paramedic and tutor for the Institute of Development and Healthcare. He joined the City of Southampton Service in 1974 and retired with SCAS in 2009. He became Chairman of the Retired Ambulance Personnel (RAP) and with up to 130 members now, Paul said it feels like family. Paul would like to encourage other counties to set up their own RAP and is keen to support more schemes like this one. RAP came into being in early 2000. It all started when the Honorary President Ron Last, a former senior control officer with Hampshire Ambulance Service, thought it would be a good idea to invite retired staff from Hampshire to meet up for lunch. It was very successful and soon became too big for just a few people to organise. On the 3 February 2003, a committee was elected to run the group and the group became known as Retired Ambulance Personnel. The main purpose of the group is to keep the camaraderie amongst friends and ex-colleagues from within the service. This is achieved through luncheons which are held at different venues throughout Hampshire, in the Spring, Autumn and at Christmas. In addition to these luncheons trips of interest are also arranged; the most popular being to different areas of South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) where members can meet staff and learn how much has changed over the years. Recent visits have been to the Resource Centre, North Harbour, Portsmouth and the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), Eastleigh. A magazine, RAPPORT is also produced three times a year which is circulated to all members as well as being distributed to ambulance stations throughout SCAS.
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Membership is open to all retired ambulance staff or ex-members of staff, operational or administrative, who have moved on but would still like to remain in contact with old colleagues. Our membership has over 100 members and associate members. There is a small fee for membership, but spouses and partners are free. If a member dies the spouse or partner automatically becomes an associate member at no charge. RAP is a social group, however three of the committee members of RAP are also trustees of the South Central Ambulance Service (incorporating Hampshire Ambulance Service) Benevolent Fund which has proved a useful link. RAP has its own website: www.retiredambulancepersonnel.co.uk and Facebook page. If you would like to join RAP or would like any further information, please contact our Secretary, Pierre Le Cras, via email: lecraspierre@gmail.com
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Global Digital Exemplar GDE Programme Update
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In January 2018 SCAS was one of three NHS ambulance trusts to be invited onto the programme to develop into world class digital organisations. In the three-year period from that date SCAS will receive an additional ÂŁ2m from the NHS to continue its pioneering work in digital transformation.
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What is included in the SCAS GDE programme? The SCAS GDE Programme incorporates eight projects, each of which has been progressing over the past year. These are: 1. Vehicle as a Hub Providing Wi-Fi capability and a fast 4G on ambulances, improving communications and enabling better targeted patient care. 2. Livelinks Improving the video links between SCAS Clinical Coordination Centres and other health partners and patients. 3. Electronic Patient Record (ePR) Acute Interface Developing ePR Acute real-time messaging to enable electronic patient records data to be transmitted direct to acute hospital systems. 4. ePR Developments Continuing to improve ePR functionality.
5. Resource Planning / Business Intelligence Development Upgrading our system for resource planning for 999 and NHS 111, and following research, including more data to further improve our demand forecasting. 6. Integrated Urgent Care (NHS 111) and Health Systems Integration Providing links to parts of the health system to enable seamless patient care. This further develops the virtual call centre regardless of organisational boundaries.
7. Automation Investing in improving automation. It is divided into three areas: • 999: improvements to CAD such as further developing dispatch automation • PTS: includes better rostering and efficiency within the control centre • Corporate: improvements in systems to increase staff efficiency, e.g. e-learning 8. Telephony Enhancements Enhancing and upgrading the SCAS telephony application to enable greater interconnectivity within SCAS and between organisations within the Health System.
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Progress so far While all the eight projects are progressing, some are delivering benefits already. The ePR system used by our paramedics and other frontline staff has been updated and improved. It now includes access to the Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC) App. The JRCALC guidelines are an important part of clinical risk management and ensure uniformity in the delivery of high-quality patient care. The app opens in the dashboard on the hand-held ePR tablet used by frontline staff, providing instant access to information and guidance. The Vehicle as a Hub (VAAH) project is currently testing the roll out activities required for the next stage which will be to implement it on to 29 vehicles. The ambulance is set up with its own internal Wi-Fi system so that it is in a ‘Wi-Fi bubble’. This means that staff will be able to access the ePR system and complete patient assessments online even in areas of restricted connectivity. Currently in areas with a poor 3G, O2 or Vodafone signal, ambulance teams have to complete the assessments locally and upload the information later. Another key advantage is that the mapping system used by crews to navigate to incidents can be updated to take account of changes whenever necessary ‘on the go’, rather than being updated off-line at regular intervals. This means that crews always have access to the most up-to-date mapping data. The eLearning Enhancements project has delivered quicker access to the applications via an icon on the desktop and reducing the number of times login information is entered, and replaced the need to email the eLearning mailbox if users require assistance by giving them the ability to request help from the ‘Do It Online’ support. Within the Integrated Urgent Care area the Dental Advisory Service (DAS) took on the DAS referral management service for Dorset on 28 March 2019. This was expected to increase the number of referrals by approximately 40%. In order to cope with this increase, the system used by DAS was upgraded with the ability to directly book urgent appointments with dental practices, offer patient advice and provide text messages to patients with appointment details. If you have any questions or comments about the GDE programme please email the project team at GDE.PMO@scas.nhs.uk
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Membership
Get your friends, colleagues and family to join! Do encourage your friends and family to become members. They can become a member of SCAS as long as they are aged 14 or over and live in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire or Oxfordshire. They can also join if they, whilst not residing in one of the four counties listed above, have a connection with the Trust. For instance, they may be somebody who receives services from SCAS, works in one of our four counties or has friends or family who work for the Trust or live in the South Central area.
Update your details If we need to cancel an event it is important that we can contact members at short notice. We would appreciate if you could please promptly notify the membership office of any future changes to your contact details.
Contact You can contact the membership office with any queries about membership or this newsletter. Please email getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk
Offers We would like to remind all our FT members that as a member of South Central Ambulance Service you can take advantage of fantastic offers usually only available to NHS staff, via Health Service Discounts. It is a website where you can access exclusive offers and reductions when shopping online. You can also print out vouchers, get advice from confidential, free helplines, book holiday and activities; all in the knowledge that you’ll be saving money. To take advantage of the discounts on offer you will need to register and you can do this for free. Registration is straightforward - just fill in the online form as directed. Simply go to www.healthservicediscounts.com, click on ‘Join’ and fill in the online form, select ‘Foundation Member’.
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Out and About We are always keen to engage with our members and the public. Our list of events is published on our website at www.scas.nhs.uk/get-involved/events/ and is always being updated so don’t forget to keep checking back for more. You can see upcoming Board Meetings, Community Engagement Forums, Engagement or Recruitment events. See you there!
We always want to hear from you Please get in touch with the membership office if you: èè èè èè èè èè èè èè
want more information about what we do have a story you want to share with other members want us to come along to an event in your local area need to change your contact details want to get more involved and update your involvement choices want membership forms or other literature to distribute want to raise an issue with a governor
Email: getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk or Tel: 01869 365126
Want to know more about what goes on in the Trust? This newsletter is a very important method for us to keep our Members up to date but so much happens across our services every day that it is hard to fit it all in! If you want to know more about what goes on in your ambulance service or want more details on what you have read in this newsletter, there are a number of ways for you to do this: Visit our website http://www.scas.nhs.uk/ Watch our videos on SCAS999 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58tlgillDAUA2gVGFNh78A Follow us on Twitter @SCAS999 Like us on Facebook https://en-gb.facebook.com/SCAS999/ 25
How are we doing? Ambulance Response Programme
April-July 2019 What does it mean? Category 1 – life-threatening calls. Responded to in an average (mean) of seven minutes and at least nine out of ten times within 15 minutes (90th percentile). Category 2 – emergency calls. Responded to in an average (mean) of 18 minutes and at least nine out of ten times within 40 minutes (90th percentile). Category 3 – urgent calls. Responded to at least nine out of ten times within 120 minutes. You may be treated by ambulance staff at the scene. Category 4 – less urgent calls. Responded to at least nine out of ten times within 180 minutes. You may be given advice over the phone or referred to another service, such as a GP or pharmacist. 26
Issue 26 Summer 2019
Category 1 Mean
Category 2
7:04
Mean
16:56
33:59
90th Percentile
12:50
90th Percentile
Incidents
10,074
Incidents
Category 3 90th Percentile Incidents
Target achieved
93,093
Category 4 90th Percentile
1:59:33
Incidents
58,912
Target missed
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2:52:53
3,539
Produced by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Units 7 and 8 Talisman Business Centre Talisman Road Bicester Oxfordshire OX26 6HR Tel 01869 365000 | getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk | www.scas.nhs.uk