1

JULY ‘10 ISSUE 44

‘GO LIVE’ FOR 111

Refuelling advice from Fleet, see page 9

LSMS appointed,see page 10

Letter from the PM, see page 5

2

We also completed 279,000 emergency

patient journeys in 2009/10; just over

10,000 more than in the previous year,

according to the report: Ambulance

Services: England, 2009-10.

The report also includes for the first time

figures on the number of non-emergency

resolved with telephone advice only. In

2009/10 the figure was 15,700 or 9 per cent

of all non-emergency calls in the North

East.

Ambulance responses are split by

category; A (immediately life threatening)

B (serious but not immediately life

threatening) or C (not immediately

serious or life threatening). For category

A incidents, the service has a target of an

emergency response arriving at the scene

within eight minutes in 75 per cent of

cases, and a fully equipped ambulance,

if required, to attend within 19 minutes

within 95 per cent of cases.

In 2009/10 the percentage of category

A incidents resulting in an emergency

response arriving at the scene within eight

minutes was 75.4 per cent, compared

to the previous year of 75.7 per cent,

while the percentage resulting in a fully

equipped ambulance arriving in 19 minutes

was 98.8 per cent.

Of the 12 NHS organisations providing

ambulance services in England, seven met

or exceeded the 75 per cent standard for

eight minute response times, the same

number as the previous year.

The report also shows that of the

261,000 emergency calls received in the

North East, ambulance crews were able to

treat 40,000 patients without taking them

into hospital.

Paul Liversidge, Director of Operations

at NEAS, said: “All those involved in

ambulance response, from the control and

contact centres to the hospital door, had

a very busy year. More calls were received

than last year.

“Ambulance response time targets are

the toughest in the world and this year has

been made even tougher in the context of

the coldest winter in thirty years.

“Targets have played a key role in

improving standards in the ambulance

service, but we know that the next stage

is to measure performance against patient

outcomes. Working with the NHS more

widely we must also concentrate on

prevention so problems can be seen to

earlier before an emergency response is

required.”

Mr Liversidge added: “I am really proud

of all our staff who have worked very hard

over the past year to respond to the calls

from patients in need across the North East

even quicker. Our staff on the front line

in A&E and PTS services and our contact

centres and our partners in the voluntary

ambulance services and community first

responders all do a tremendous job, but

their success is part of a team effort which

also involves our support staff working

hard to keep front line services running all

the time.”

The full report is at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/ambserv0910

Busiest year yet for ambulance service

The North East Ambulance Service answered nearly 432,000 emergency calls in 2009/10; 27,000 more than in the previous year, a new report from The NHS Information Centre shows.

JULY 2010 Issue 44

CONTENTSHART team visit Boulmer 4A letter from David Cameron 5Information Governance update 6PTS update 7Equality & Diversity update 8 Refueling procedures 9CFR updare 11Clinical Focus 12Healthy Living event 14Green Bag scheme rolled out 15Starters & Leavers 16Successful resuscitations 16Your Shout 17Events Cover 18Puzzles 18Discounts 19NEAS Sport 20

THE PULSE TEAM

SUSAN COLDRON

Foundation Trust

Membership Officer

MARK COTTON

Head of Communications

and PPI

TINA BALBACH

Communications Officer

RACHEL BEARRYMAN

Communications Officer

SAHDIA HASSEN

Public Relations Officer

KERRI JAMES

Public Relations and

Communications Assistant

3

From mid July, the three digit number (111) will replace the

current single point of access number (0300 111 0 111) which has

been in place since October last year.

All calls to 111 will be dealt with by experienced NEAS call

handlers who will effectively assess callers’ needs to ensure they

receive the right service, first time.

By calling this number patients will be directed to a locally

available health service or they will be provided with appropriate

advice and information.

When a patient calls 111, their clinical needs will be determined

using an effective clinical algorithm. These clinical needs will be

matched to the most appropriate available local health service and

if necessary their call will be immediately passed to our 999 service

and an emergency vehicle will be dispatched.

For minor illnesses and injuries, the 111 service will be able to

provide immediate advice and direction to the caller’s nearest

local service. Should the caller need to see a GP during normal

surgery opening hours, they will be referred to their GP practice.

Julie Avis has been a single point of access call handler since

October 2009; she believes that patients will receive the best

care for their symptoms. She said: “If a patient can’t get an

appointment with their GP and feel they would like to see

someone about a concern they have they can call us and we can

take them through a detailed assessment in NHS Pathways and

from there we explain to them what their best option is. It may be

that they need an appointment at their local urgent care centre

or we can arrange for a nurse or a GP to call them back and give

advice over the telephone.

She added: “I believe that patients who access this single point

of access urgent care number will receive the best care for their

symptoms. Patients also have the added benefit that if their

symptoms are life threatening or serious, we can immediately

arrange for an ambulance. They will not have to make another

phone call and go through the process of giving all their details

again. It is an all encompassing system and patients will be

directed to the right healthcare professional and the right place at

the right time.”

Julie Horner, Urgent Care Manager said: “I believe that the 111

system is the best possible structure because the patient has a

“single point of access” to all relevant medical services.

“By ringing 111 the patient will never have to ring another

number - everything is done for them by our dedicated team.

“Whether in need of a nurse, doctor, optician, dentist, ambulance

or even just advice the triage service will ensure that they are

directed to the service most appropriate to their needs.

“This fantastic service will even arrange and provide transport

for GP appointments and home visits where necessary.

“I am proud to be part of the team responsible for

implementing this service for the benefit of the public and our

partners in the wider community”.

George Marley, 111 Implementation Manager: “The 111 service

will establish a consistent, accessible quality-driven pathway for

patients with urgent care requirements across County Durham and

Darlington.

“We are determined to provide our callers with an effective

solution to their needs and again we are at the forefront of

providing such services. I’m confident that this will be a success

and this ‘Pathfinder Project’ will provide the platform for

expanding the service across the rest of the North East”.

We will be launching the new 111 service for patients across

County Durham and Darlington later this year, which will be

supported by a comprehensive publicity campaign.

‘GO LIVE’ for 111The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) is the first of three Pathfinder project sites in the country to launch access to urgent care, through a ‘free to call’ three digit number (111), for patients across County Durham and Darlington.

4

Health Secretary sets out ambition for a culture of patient safety in the NHS

HART team visit RAF BoulmerOn 17th May 2010, Durham team, from the HART unit, spent the afternoon with the search and rescue aircrew at RAF Boulmer. The aim of the visit was to discuss each other’s roles and capabilities and to consider how they might be able to assist each other at the scene of an incident.

Donna Hay, HART team leader said: “The afternoon began with

a tour of their station, helicopter and medical equipment. We

then discussed their medical training, which reaches paramedic

level for some winchmen, and their expertise in other areas such

as navigation. We also chatted about the sort of incidents which

the Search and Rescue crew would be mobilised to, the area that

they cover and safety aspects of working with the helicopter. The

roles were then reversed and the aircrew were show around our

equipment and talked through our new roles and remit.

“The visit was extremely successfully for both parties and we all

left with a better understanding of each other’s abilities which can

only be of benefit if we work together at a scene in the future.

Thanks must go to the RAF staff for hosting us and to Flt Lt Andy

Johnston for helping to organise the trip.”

As part of his broader plans to align payments with the quality

of patient care, the Health Secretary said that hospitals should be

responsible for reducing the number of emergency readmissions

following treatment, and support treatment at home, as part of

a single payment. Making hospitals responsible for a patient’s

ongoing care after discharge will create more joined-up working

between hospitals and community services. This will improve

quality and performance and shift the focus to the outcome

for the patient, rather than the volume of activity paid to the

hospital.

Speaking to an audience of patients, carers and staff at an

event at the Bromley by Bow Centre in London on June 8th 2010,

hosted by the Patients Association and National Voices, the Health

Secretary challenged the NHS to:

• Makeaculturalshift.Fromacultureresponsivemainlyto

orders from the top-down, to one responsive to patients, in

which patient safety is put first.

• Devolvepowerthroughtheunleashingofmeaningful

information to patients. Comparative data about standards

and patient experience will drive up standards, as the data

will influence patient choice. A transparent NHS is a safer

NHS.

• Engagepeopleintheircaresothat,“nodecisionismade

about me, without me”, and give patients the opportunity to

provide feedback in real time, reflecting the experience of

their care.

• EmbraceleadershipbysettingNHSprofessionalsfreefroma

target-centred and bureaucratic system that compromises

patient care, to one focussed on the quality, innovation,

productivity and safety required to improve patient

outcomes.

• Adoptaholisticapproachbylookingattheentirepatient

pathway from preventative health and well-being measures,

through to hospital and community care.

• AlignpaymentsintheNHStodriveupthequalityofcare

that patients receive. In the first instance, through

introducing payments which encapsulate a more integrated

care pathway by giving hospitals responsibility for a patient’s

care for 30 days after they are discharged.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:

“My ambition is for health outcomes and health services to be as

good as any in the world. The previous government’s bureaucratic

approach of perpetual interference, coupled with the imposition

of top-down process targets, has failed patients. It has left us

lagging behind our European counterparts on outcomes that

matter to patients, such as how long they will survive after a

cancer diagnosis.

“We need a cultural shift in the NHS. From a culture responsive

mainly to orders from the top-down, to one responsive to

patients, in which patient safety is put first. This can only be

achieved if patients are put in the driving seat and are informed

and engaged in the delivery of their care. That way the NHS will

be focussed on what matters to patients – safe, reliable, effective

care for each patient, and the best outcomes for all patients.”

In his first speech since taking up the post, the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, said he would put his heart and soul into the improvement of health outcomes by making patients the driving force of improvements to the NHS. Not just as beneficiaries of care but as participants, with shared decision-making.

5

A letter from Prime Minister David Cameron

These efficiency savings are required

to contribute to the overall NHS cost

improvement programme which needs to

save £15-20 billion up to 2014.

NEAS has established a number of

project boards to oversee the development

and implementation of efficiency schemes

and service improvement plans aimed at

increasing quality, using innovation and

reducing waste.

Each of these project boards – covering

A&E, PTS, control and contact centre,

estates, procurement, stores, sickness

absence, HR and training – reports

every month to a recently established

improvement steering group, which has

representation from senior managers,

Unison and GMB.

Simon Featherstone said: “Everyone

working in the NHS is aware of the

financial challenges which lie ahead,

and all parts of the system, including

support services, will have to make their

fair share of savings.”

NEAS staff can also submit ideasfor

reducing waste and making

improvements to:

bigidea@neas.nhs.uk

A major public engagement exercise

has been announced to help shape the

forthcoming Spending Review. NHS staff

are hugely involved in this process and the

Prime Minister, David Cameron, has written

to all employees asking for them to share

their ideas on how we can rethink public

services to deliver more for less.

An engagement programme is being run

to collect ideas on how the Government

can deliver services more efficiently while

maintaining and improving quality. A

website has been specifically set up to

gather up these ideas, with every serious

idea being considered by government

departments, the Treasury and by teams at

No 10 and the Cabinet Office.

The Prime Minister David Cameron writes:

Dear Colleague,

First of all we want to thank you. Whether

your job is nursing in a hospital, working

in a government department, teaching

our children or one of the other key roles

in the public sector, you keep our country

running. People who work in the public sector don’t get enough

credit for what they do, so thank you.

As well as our thanks, we want to give you more trust and more

responsibility. For years you’ve been undermined by targets and

rules set from on high. Bit by bit we’re going to end that culture.

We’ll set you free to use your professionalism, commitment and

good ideas to make life better for everyone.

But let us be clear. The biggest challenge our country faces is

dealing with our huge debts – and that means we have to reduce

public spending. You will have heard in the Budget that we have

had to take difficult decisions on public sector salaries for the next

two years, while taking steps to protect those on lower salaries.

Like many private sector organisations, we have chosen to control

salaries rather than see higher job losses. The more we can find

savings, the more flexibility we will have to avoid job losses and

wage cuts.

We want you to help us find those savings, so we can cut public

spending in a way that is fair and responsible. You work on the

frontline of public services. You know where things are working

well, where the waste is, and where we can re-think things so that

we get better services for less money.

So this is why we’re writing to you. We’re asking you to go to

this website – www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spendingchallenge – and

tell us your ideas about getting more for less. Don’t hold back. Be

innovative, be radical, challenge the way things are done. Every

serious idea will be considered: by government departments, by

the Treasury, by our teams in Number 10 and the Cabinet Office

– and passed to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to make

sure we don’t miss anything.

So please, play your part. Let us know your ideas. We’re all in

this together – and we’ll get through this together to better days

ahead.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon David Cameron MP

Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP

NEAS HAS IDENTIFIED £3.8 MILLION WHICH NEED TO BE SAVED THROUGH COST IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES IN 2010-11

66

PROMIS upgrade to GRS

GRS comprises of several optional modules covering management

of rostering, annual leave, overtime, personnel records,

budgeting, sickness records and time and attendance.

GRS will go live for Head Quarter Staff on Monday 5th July 2010

and on Monday 19thy July 2010 for Fleet staff. The department

will be busy during this time so your patience is appreciated and

we would ask you to only contact the department for urgent

matters.

All Personal Assistants in each department and administrative

support staff in Fleet have received training on the new Resource

Scheduling system to ensure all sickness information is captured

in GRS.

Thank you once again for your patience during this transition.

For more information on GRS visit the website:

www.globalrosters.com

The current resource scheduling software, PROMIS, has been further developed and upgraded to GRS, Global Rostering System. GRS web is a self service web portal through which staff, regardless of their physical location, can access their information as defined in the main GRS application.

INFORMATION GOVERNANCE UPDATE

The Trust’s Information Governance Working Group (IGWG) aim

to increase service awareness of Information Governance in its

broad sense and to ensure that all aspects are monitored in an

appropriate manner such that the Trust is protected to ensure best

practice in relation to:

• Confidentiality

• DataProtection

• FreedomofInformation

• RecordsManagement

• I.G.Maintenance

• InformationQualityAssurance

• InformationSecurity

• NationalProgrammeforI.T

The group will be responsible for drafting policies, strategies,

procedures and protocols relating to information governance and

they will be ratified by the Trust Assurance Committee.

A key piece of work for the group at the moment is a review

of the Computer User Access Control Procedure which indentifies

how access levels are controlled for all employees that either have

NEAS PC user credentials or require them. This will affect all

employees that are leaving, starting or moving position within the

service. This forms part of a larger project to review the current

P Drive which forms part of the Trust’s Records Management

Strategy.

For advice regarding any information governance issues, please

contact rahima.hoque@neas.nhs.uk or call 0191 430 2158.

HPA advises simple steps can avoid food poisoning This is a particularly important at this time of year when reports of food-borne infections such as salmonella and campylobacter increase. Last year, nearly 4,000 cases of food poisoning were reported in the region. Over 3,000 of these cases were due to campylobacter which peaked at 425 cases in July compared to 127 in January.

Dr Deb Wilson, gastro-intestinal illness lead for the HPA in the

North East, said: “Whenever we have a prolonged spell of warmer

weather in this country we see an increase in gastro-intestinal

illness which could be avoided. This may be due partly to more

people having barbecues and other outdoor meals when the

sun is out. Some people forget the rules of safer food storage,

preparation and cooking are especially important during the

summer months when the warm temperatures and eating

outdoors make it easier for bugs to be inadvertently spread and

multiply.

“We want to ensure that people know the simple things that

they can do to keep themselves and their families safe. Just

storing, handling and cooking food properly will minimise the

risk of these unpleasant and sometimes serious infections. Food

poisoning is a miserable experience and so easily avoided.”

The Agency’s simple steps for safer food preparation are:

• Washhandsthoroughlybeforeandafterhandlingfood.Ifat

the beach or in the countryside, use hand wipes.

• Lightthebarbecuelongbeforeyouplantouseitandensure

that the grill is hot when you need it.

• Ensurethatmeatandpoultryarethoroughlydefrostedbefore

cooking.

• Keeprawmeatsandpoultrywellawayfromfoodthatdoesnot

require cooking, such as bread, salads and cooked meats to

avoid the risk of cross-contamination.

• Ensurethatpoultry,porkburgersandsausagesarecookeduntil

there is no pink meat or juices left and they are hot all the way

through.

• Donotattempttocookroastsorlargerjointsofmeator

poultry on the barbecue. It is much better to prepare these

larger products indoors in an oven because they are very

difficult to cook thoroughly on a barbecue.

• Storefoodproperly,keepingcookedanduncookedproducts

separate with raw meats covered at the bottom of the fridge

well away from ready-to-eat foods.

• Alwaysuseseparateknives,utensilsandchoppingboardsfor

raw and cooked foods.

• Donotbutterbread,preparesaladsorhandleotherready-

to-eat foods after you have handled raw meat unless you have

thoroughly washed your hands.

• Keepingfoodattherighttemperatureisimportanttostop

bugs growing. Food that should be chilled can be taken on a

picnic but keep them in the fridge until you are ready to leave

the house and then put them in a cool bag until you are ready

to eat.

7

New Contracts for PTS: Riverside Contract In 2009, NEAS PTS in partnership with Gateshead Hospitals

and South of Tyne (SOT) Commissioners agreed to pilot a

dedicated PTS crew/vehicle to the Riverside Unit located near

the MetroCentre. This vehicle would provide a dedicated PTS

service to this NHS unit as well as operating as a discharge service

to Gateshead Hospitals in its downtime. In late June, due to the

success of this vehicle, South of Tyne NHS agreed to commission

this vehicle as a permanent arrangement.

Barry Dews, Assistant Operations Manager; PTS Contracts

explains; “This is a welcomed decision from our Commissioners

which will assist NEAS PTS in providing an improved delivery

of service to PTS patients who attend the Riverside site and

surrounding health care establishments.”

PTS Discharge vehicle in South of TyneAs part of the 2009/10 PTS winter planning arrangements, NHS

South of Tyne approached NEAS PTS to provide an additional

ambulance stretcher vehicle in order to facilitate speedy discharge

of patients from hospital and ease pressures within the hospital

system.

This PTS discharge vehicle would service City Hospitals

Sunderland, Queen Elizabeth and South Tyneside Hospitals with

NEAS control ensuring the vehicle would be properly utilised

across all three PCT areas.

The uptake of this vehicle was well received by all hospitals and

in late June, South of Tyne Commissioners agreed to fund this

arrangement on a permanent basis thereby securing new business

for NEAS PTS.

Colin Smith (SOT Commissioner) quoted in a recent report

“Prior to the commissioning of this additional resource, these

patients were likely to have been retained in hospital for a further

night and discharged the following day when stretcher vehicles

would be available. Consequently this more responsive discharge

of patients will have eased pressure in the system and is likely

to have reduced costs to the PCT, particularly in respect of those

patients incurring excess bed day costs.”

Barry Dews went on to say, “ this new business to the NEAS

not only improves PTS ability to respond more effectively to the

hospitals on same day discharges and transfers but also cements

our position with our South of Tyne commissioners especially

in the light of increasing competition from private transport

providers.”

Volunteer Porter ServiceNEAS, Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and North Tyneside

District General Hospital NHS Trust (NTDG) have been planning the

Volunteer Porter Service project for the last three months.

A team of 20 volunteers are working together and after

carrying out a multi agency training course and receiving a CRB

check the team started work at North Tyneside District General

Hospital NHS Trust on the June 7th.

The volunteers’ role will be to greet patients at hospital

entrances to ultimately reduce the time spent by PTS crews in

hospitals. The volunteer will be there to escort the patient to and

from wards and outpatients departments throughout the hospital.

All partners including NEAS, Community Service Volunteers (CSV)

and North Tyneside District General Hospital Staff are very excited

about the project and have had very positive feedback from

volunteers who have only just begun this new role. Although early

days, it is anticipated that this project will considerably reduce the

amount of time PTS crews spend in hospital.

The project will be initially deployed at North Tyneside District

General NHS Trust for a six month trial period and dependant on

its success has potential to be rolled out in other NHS Hospital

Trust sites.

PhilKyle,ProgrammeSupportOfficerfortheprojectspent

some time recently speaking to PTS crews.

He explained; “the crews seemed extremely positive about the

project, and after talking to the volunteers as well they seemed to

be thoroughly enjoying working on this project which has shown

huge benefits to the patient as well as the trust.”

“I’d also like to thank Chris Black who is delivering the project

on the ground. The porter service has run smoothly and efficiently

with all partner organizations already thrilled with the outcome.”

Auto Planning UpdateA later version of the Auto Planning is now available and we

are working with our software supplier to develop this further.

This development is being dealt with in a test environment, and

linked to some information from our live working system. It has

highlighted a number of issues surrounding throughput times

of clinics and banding times, which will need to be addressed

and will form the basis of a new project which will require

commissioner engagement. Further work is continuing to

determine the optimum use of the Auto Planning for the whole

trust. It is also planned to utilise the new system for our Teesside

area, as they have been utilising the current version to some

effect. It is hoped this change will assist us in developing our other

areas.

As patients travel all over the region, it continues to be

recognised that the system will not automatically Plan all of

the journeys, but provide a substantial and sound base for the

Planning Staff to be able to facilitate the remaining unallocated

journeys determined by quality issues.

PTS Modelling Update You will be aware from previous communications that

over the past few months the Trust has been working with

PriceWaterhouseCooper LLP to model PTS activity and look at

how we can improve the service we provide to patients, hospitals

and commissioners. The draft report is to be shared with PTS

Management and staff side representatives in late July. A wider

engagement programme will then be undertaken to make

sure that all staff, but in particular PTS staff are aware of the

recommendations and the way forward.

Steph Edusei-Basra, Assistant Director of Operations said “This

is a really exciting time for PTS and a real opportunity for us

to decide how we want to deliver an improved service to our

patients. We need to get PTS staff involved in helping us move

the service forward but previous engagement events have been

poorly attended. I’d really welcome ideas from staff on how we

can make sure that everyone has a chance to have their say”.

All PTS staff will shortly be receiving a letter at home updating

them on the progress that PTS Transformation has made

but if you have any questions or suggestion please email:

ptstransformation@neas.nhs.uk or speak to your line manager.

PTS UPDATE

8

SINGLE EQUALITY SCHEME ANNUAL REPORTThe Single Equality Scheme (SES) is

a strategy and action plan for the

period May 2008-2011, and is a public

commitment of how the Trust meets the

specific duties placed upon us by equality

legislation, in addition to the diverse

needs of our staff and the communities

that we serve. We have recently published

our annual report for the Scheme, which

summarises the progress made in the

second successful year of the Scheme.

The SES was developed in partnership

with other NHS organisations across the

region, and these organisations share

the key objectives and actions detailed

in the SES, progress against which is then

reported to the North East SHA, through

annual completion of the SES Performance

Framework. Local actions specific to the

Trust are also included in our action plan.

Progress so far is described under the eight

key objective areas of the scheme and the

Action Plan as follows:

• Leadership,CorporateCommitment

and Governance

• EqualityImpactAssessments

• PartnershipWorking,Consultation

and Involvement

• AccessibilityandCommunications

• WorkforceandTraining

• CommissioningandProcurement

• MonitoringData,Reporting

and Publishing

• Complaints

An action plan for the third year of the

Scheme has recently been developed on a

region wide basis, to further build on the

work achieved so far, and the Scheme will

be updated to reflect this.

We welcome feedback from staff on the

Scheme and the Annual Report, and both

are available to view on the intranet at HR

& Training / Equality and Diversity / Single

Equality Scheme.

NEWCASTLE MELA, EXHIBITION PARK The Newcastle Mela 2010, the Asian Arts

and Music Festival will take place this

year on Saturday 31st July and Sunday 1st

August. NEAS will be supporting this event,

which is one of the biggest and most

spectacular multi-cultural celebrations in

the North East, with an information stall

and vehicles present. Newcastle Mela

attracts around 30,000 people every year

and is based around Punjabi, Pakistani,

Bengali, Hindi and other South Asian

cultures. This free event is open to anyone

who wants to learn more, be entertained

and meet new people, as well as enjoy

different music, art and food in the heart

of Newcastle. With a line up including the

hottest contemporary Asian acts as well

as traditional displays of music and dance

it’s an event likely to appeal to people of

all ages and backgrounds. Taking place

in Exhibition Park, the Mela promises

to be a weekend full of fun with music,

games, stalls and exhibitions to help

everyone have a great weekend! With

a stage playing host to musicians and

dancers, hundreds of stalls selling arts and

crafts, food and drink, and a children’s

programme; there’s plenty to do whatever

your tastes.

Further information on this event is

available at: www.newcastlemela2010

For more information on any of these

items please get in touch with the

Equality and Diversity team:

Jane Miller, on (0191) 4302181 or jane.miller@neas.nhs.uk

Karen White, on (0191) 4302180 or karen.white@neas.nhs.uk

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY UPDATE

9

RPIW FOR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH The aim of Service Improvement is to support the NEAS mission

and vision by using the Virginia Mason Production System to bring

about change to the organisation.

A Rapid Process Improvement Workshop focuses on the

Reduction of costs by identifying waste and then eliminating

it. The workshop is usually a rigorous five day event (but can

be less days depending upon the work involved) that focuses on

eliminating waste and improving flow through the redesign of

ineffective processes. The idea is to make sure staff who do the

work design the work. It will also encourage ‘thinking differently’,

simulating ideas and demonstrating what can be accomplished.

The structure of the workshop consists of a 6-week lead up and a

30/60/90 day follow up.

On 28 April 2010 a one day rapid process improvement

workshop was carried out for the Occupational Health department

to look at the processes and encourage lean thinking.

The key issue that the team faced on a regular basis was there

were not enough resources, especially staff to do the work needed

as effectively as the team wanted to do. With Rosie Hind the new

apprentice starting work within the team it was identified that

it took too much time to explain processes and working practices

which the team didn’t have.

It was then realised that having procedures documented

made it easier to highlight and demonstrate exactly what the

Occupational Health team do. Some other suggestions that came

from the Rapid Process Improvement Workshop included;

- Colour coding notes

- Creating a databases for staff/ patient records

- Devising a new phone system

- Creating set days for appointments.

Lesley Ellison, Occupational Health Manager said; “The workshop

was fantastic. It was really helpful to have staff who weren’t

directly involved in the team to objectively look at our working

processes and methods and offer solutions that we can bring to

the team.”

“What’s also good is that some of the suggestions could be

implemented immediately and the team have already seen

amazing improvements and efficiencies taking place during their

working day.”

Carol Mitchell, Service Improvement Manager said; “The

Occupational Health Team wanted to improve the services they

offer to all departments and with this in mind they looked at

all of the work they were undertaking and reorganised by using

Lean Thinking. By breaking down the barriers they have embraced

change and have been able to become more efficient and

effective in their approach.

They have created capacity in their systems and are now able

to see more NEAS staff than ever before by working Smarter not

Harder.

Leslie and her staff had recognised that they needed to change

the way they worked and should be commended for their

commitment and contribution to improving the Service they

provide. Congratulations to the whole team. They know that

this is only the start of the Journey and are currently working on

further improvements.”

If anyone has any ideas for improvement or would like to

discuss any potential projects further they should contact

either Carol Mitchell or David Newman via the intranet

under the Big Picture tab through Service Improvement link.

SERVICE IMPROVEMENT UPDATE

Refueling ProceduresEvery year The North East Ambulance Service spends £3.5 million on fuel for our vehicles. Recently there has been some isolated incidents where by the fleet department would like to reiterate some key parts of the Refueling policy.

Firstly we would like to ask Crews and staff who re- fuel any trust

vehicle at any time to make sure they check on the fuel pump

both the quantity in litres and the cost of the fuel before they

authorise the purchase. There have been some instances that

due to we believe, genuine error, and quite possibly that of the

fuel station, that staff may have paid for the wrong fuel from a

different pump.

Miss-fuelling has also become another issue for the Fleet

department where some vehicles have been fuelled with petrol

rather than diesel. Putting the wrong fuel into your car is

something easily done and can be a costly error.

Geoff Craik, Operational Support Manager said: “A number of

devices that attempts to prevent miss-fuelling are on the market

and an early type was fitted to all operational vehicles. However,

over time a number of these are missing or have broken, please

report this in the defect book and we will get this replaced as

soon as possible.”

The advice offered by the fleet department is if you do miss-

fuel the vehicle, do not start the engine and contact Control

immediately. A lot less damage will occur to the vehicle before the

engine is started than if you try to drive the vehicle and it is a lot

less costly to repair.

George Price; Assistant Operational Support Manager is

currently working to commission the AA through their “AA Fuel

Assist” scheme to carry out the procedure of removing the wrong

fuel from vehicles at the point of sale, rather than having to

recover the vehicle to Fleet to be repaired. The AA can carry out

this procedure at the location so vehicle downtime is minimised

and returns the vehicle to operational use as soon as possible.

An update to staff will be released as soon as the contract has

been finalised.

In summary staff must;

• Establishtheneedtorefuelandmakesurethefuellevelisno

less than half a full tank

• Preparetorefuelbytakingthevehicletoafillingstationthat

will accept NEAS fuel cards (BP)

• Fillthetankwiththecorrectfuelforthatvehicle.

• Payforthefuelandobtainareceipt,makingsureyouuse

your fuel card, give accurately the current mileage and vehicle

registration.

• Haveconsiderationforthenextvehicleuserandleavethe

vehicle with adequate fuel (ideally no less than half a tank)

10

Staff Assaults Worrying the Trust Board Trust Board directors have expressed concern at the number of staff who have been assaulted by patients or the public.

A report to the Board in

June showed that eight

people were physically

assaulted during May. Three

of them, all women, were injured and the others were not hurt.

Chairman Tony Dell said: “This is a worrying statistic and we are

really concerned that eight people have reported an assault in just

one month. The Trust Board takes a zero tolerance approach to

assaults against staff and I want to assure everyone that we will

support them pursuing an action against their attacker.”

One explanation for the higher number of assaults reported

was due to the introduction of a new, and easier, system for staff

to notify the trust of any incident.

Non-executive directors were told that NEAS will support staff

who pursue a criminal action against violent patients or members

of the public, but many choose not to do this and the service

cannot take this sort of action on its own without staff consent.

Roger French, Director of Finance, said letters are written to

people who have harmed or attempted to harm ambulance crews

– or abuse contact centre staff – and the service receives letters of

apologies in reply.

However, Mr Dell added: “Writing a letter to someone who has

attempted to harm our staff should not be all that we do. The

Trust Board will continue to monitor the reports of assaults and

we want to see action taken to reduce these numbers.”

Local Security Management Specialist (LSMS) Appointment

The Trust has recently appointed, David Edwards (Risk & Claims

Department) as their LSMS. David was required to attend a 5 week

LSMS course at the NHS Security Management Service’s (SMS)

Training Centre in Coventry to become accredited. Every NHS Trust

is expected to have access to or appoint a LSMS.

In conjunction with Alan Gallagher (Head of Risk & Claims),

David will deliver the NHS SMS work at a local level, including

tackling violence and aggression against NEAS staff and protecting

NEAS property and assets encompassing the following areas;

1. Raising security awareness/promoting a pro security culture,

i.e. the distribution of security alerts, bulletins, press

coverage, security awareness events

2. Deterring security incidents and breaches, i.e. use of

increased publicity, improved security awareness trust wide,

use of available CCTV and access control

3. Identify ways to prevent security incidents, i.e. improving

physical security, working with local partners to reduce crime

and disorder

4. Ensuring security incidents are detected and reported, i.e. the

Trust’s have improved their method of reporting, the

introduction of CCTV on new A&E ambulances, access control

monitoring

5. Initiate / assist with post incident reviews and criminal

investigations

6. Provide evidence to support sanctions i.e., liaising with the

Police and NEAS Customer Care Team to support fines, ASBOs,

sentences etc

7. Support staff and the Trust to seek redress, i.e. where

possible attend court with staff, pursue recovery of damages

Some excellent work in developing working partnerships has

already been done, with information sharing arrangements

agreed in principle with both Durham and Cleveland Police. David

advises that he is currently liaising with Northumbria Police’s Legal

Services team on the same issue.

As a result of David’s accreditation, opportunities to network

and share experiences are now available via quarterly meetings of

the NHS SMS North East LSMSs and National Ambulance Network

Security sub-group.

Meantime staff have reacted positively to the Trust’s new

incident reporting procedure (QSSD 822) with the number of

reports (NEAS07s) received increasing. All security related incidents

are reviewed by David with staff receiving feedback on what

action, if any, can be taken. David advises that the feedback has

been very well received.

Furthermore it is pleasing to see that the number of sanctions

taken against offenders has increased from 3 (2008/9) to 13

(2009/10). It is hoped the increased trend of sanctions will continue

with staff encouraged not to accept violence and aggression as

part of their role.

Although the main related criminal offences our staff will come

up against include assault, harassment, theft and criminal damage,

David Edwards explained; “it is imperative that staff report any

security related incident, observation or concern”. In doing so

it can assist the Trust in efforts to reduce staff assaults, increase

sanctions for violence and improve staff and property protection.

It also helps NEAS understand the scale of security incidents,

enables NEAS to share intelligence, national research & policy

development”

There is a significant amount of support available to staff who

may unfortunately be involved in a security related incident,

including;

• YourLineManager

• LSMS,HeadofRisk&Claims

• OccupationalHealth–01914302062

• CounsellingService–01912303332and07903239983

• TradeUnion

For more information please contact David Edwards, Risk Officer/

Local Security Management Specialist on 0191 430 2145 or email

david.edwards@neas.nhs.uk

Brian Dodds, NEAS Unison branch chair said; “From a unison staff

side perspective we fully support the work that the risk and claims

department are carrying out in trying to reduce attacks on our

hard working members.

“The department are actively working with the police and

encouraging them to deal with the assailants through the legal

process and will help staff in any way possible including attending

court with them and advising on how to pursue damages.

“Staff need to be aware of the importance of reporting all

assaults including verbal and physical assaults which will allow the

risk department to challenge these assailants and ensure they do

not abuse staff again.” (Continued ↗)

11

Working with the Customer Care team

In recent months the Customer Care Team

has been working closely with the the

Head of Risk & Claims and the Trust’s LSMS

to help strengthen the ongoing work

to reduce the amount of persistent and

regular callers to NEAS.

Following a successful partnership

meeting in April, links have now been

created with Cleveland, Northumbria and

Durham Police and a designated Force

point of contact has been established to

refer persistent callers to.

One of the main concerns raised by

crews is the amount of time it takes for

cases to be resolved and unfortunately this

can take up to a year due to the complexity

of each case.

It has also been agreed with Co Durham

and Darlington Commissioners that the

Customer Care Team will act as the first

point of contact to callers to SPA and Out

of Hours and will take on responsibility for

co-coordinating case conferences.

All AE Team Leaders, Duty Managers

and Clinical Nurse Supervisors should now

have access to Persistent Caller fact files in

order to access care plans and ensure any

relevant court sanctions are adhered to.

It would be helpful if staff could

continue to report concerns with potential

persistent callers through the NEAS07

reporting procedure (QSSD 822) and

although it does take time for cases to be

resolved we will endeavour to keep staff

updated of an outcome.

If anybody would like further

information, copies of the joint Police

presentation or to discuss further please

contact Gayle White – gayle.white@neas.

nhs.uk, 07973 966436.

Do you know what to do in a life-

threatening emergency? Learning

emergency life support skills (ELS) can help

keep someone alive until professional help

arrives.

Heartstart is a British Heart Foundation

initiative which aims to teach members of

the public what to do in a life-threatening

emergency.

The British Heart Foundation together

with the North East Ambulance Service

NHS Trust (NEAS) can help organisations

teach these skills through the Heartstart

initiative.

Tracy Lamb, Teaching Assistant at

Hudson Road Primary School, Sunderland

sums it up “Heartstart provides great life

skills for both staff and pupils. The training

enables staff to deliver a programme to

children developing a range of skills and

knowledge not normally available to

them.”

NEAS can provide BHF Heartstart

instructor training to schemes for free,

subject to scheme affiliation. There are

over two hundred Heartstart schemes

in the NEAS area. Interested people can

contact the BHF to find out their local

scheme or they can set up their own

scheme.

Once affiliated and trained the schemes

have access to quality materials and

training resources which can be used by

the new instructors to deliver ELS skills to

others. For example, NEAS have recently

trained a number of teachers and teacher’s

assistants at schools who are now planning

to pass this training on to their pupils as

a project in the run up to the end of the

year. Heartstart schemes are not restricted

to school aged children. There are for

example, schemes set up through hospitals,

prisons and community centres.

Eleanor Blackburn, teacher at Gosforth

Central Middle School, Newcastle Upon

Tyne said “Heartstart is now a key part

of our Personal Social Health & Economic

education programme in Year 6 which

staff look forward to delivering. Our pupils

and young people really enjoy practising

the skills. The resources are excellent and

help to engage everyone taking part.

The BHF helped us put together a well-

structured programme. Success in the

Heartstart programme makes every pupil

feel important and builds their confidence.

The staff training was excellent and very

worthwhile continuing professional

development for any adult in a school

setting.”

Angus McGarry and Lynsey McCabe in

the NEAS First Responder Management

Team are supported by the BHF for their

work in Community Resuscitation.

The British Heart Foundation is a

registered charity in England and Wales

(225971) and in Scotland (SC039426). One

of their fundraising initiatives is the setting

up of a number of Furniture and Electrical

Stores. They can raise between £15 and

£100 for good quality small electrical items

such as DVD players, hairdryers, kettles or

even air conditioners. Please do visit www.

bhf.org.uk/shops for more info.

For further details about the Heartstart

scheme please do check out www.bhf.

org.uk/get_involved/other_ways_to_get_

involved/heartstart_uk_training.aspx

For more information about BHF

Heartstart and other Community

Resuscitation initiatives please contact the

First Responder Management Team on

firstresponder@neas.nhs.uk, or call 0191

430 2041, 0191 430 2042, 0191 430 2043 or

visit www.neambulance.nhs.uk and click on

Community.

CFR UPDATE

THE HEARTSTART EMERGENCY LIFE SUPPORT TRAINING COURSE, A BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION INITIATIVE

Driving licence expiresUnwitting motorists face £1,000 fines as thousands of photo card driving licenses expire! Thousands of motorists are at risk of

being fined up to £1,000 because they are

unwittingly driving without a valid licence.

They risk prosecution after failing to spot

the extremely small print on their photo

card licence which says it automatically

expires after 10 years and has to be

renewed - even though drivers are licensed

to drive until the age of 70.

Official DVLA figures reveal that while

16,136 expired this summer, so far only

11,566 drivers have renewed, leaving 4,570

outstanding.

With another 300,000 photo card licences

due to expire over the coming year, experts

fear the number of invalid licences will soar,

putting thousands more drivers in breach of

the law and at risk of a fine.

Motorists who fail to renew their licences

in time are allowed to continue driving.

But the DVLA says they could be charged

with ‘failing to surrender their licence’, an

offence carrying a £1,000 fine.

Today the DVLA said the date of expiry

was carried on the new-style licences and

it was issuing postal reminders to drivers

whose photograph was due to expire, to

get the renewal message across.

The DVLA said no one had so far been

charged with failing to surrender a licence.

12

CLINICAL FOCUSCHILD DEATH REVIEW PROCESSFollowing the publication ‘Every Child Matters’ in 2003 and the

response to the enquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié, one

of the key provisions made by the Children Act 2004, was that

Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) should be set up, one

per local authority. Each LSCB has a sub-committee know as

Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP). This panel reviews all child

deaths both expected and unexpected from neo-nates up to

children aged of 18 years 364 days. This process is carried out

as the government believe that if we can understand better, why

children die, we may be able to prevent similar deaths occurring in

the future. The Ambulance Service has a representative on LSCB’s

within our area and therefore also attends the CDOP’s.

Before the CDOP meeting a Local Case Discussion (LCD) takes

place between key professionals who were involved in the care

of the child, both before and immediately after the death. The

Ambulance Service frequently plays a key role within these

meetings as we are often the first point of contact following

the death of a child and therefore on scene before any other

professionals. During the LCD information is shared between the

group about the child, this information may come from A&E

staff, coronors’ officers, police, GP, health visitor, school nurse,

community nurse, midwife, paediatricians, voluntary agencies,

pathologists, YOT’s, schools, social workers and any others who

may have found themselves with a contribution to make (fire

fighters or faith leaders). The main purpose of the case discussion

is to share information to identify the cause of death and /or those

factors that may have contributed to the death, and then to plan

future care for the family. Potential lessons learnt may also be

identified. Discussion will also take place into the possibility of

abuse or neglect either causing or contributing to the death.

How crews can help in this process

Attending an incident where a child has died or is in cardiac

arrest or as a result of serious injury or illness can be very

traumatic for the staff involved, NEAS does offer a peer support

service for any staff who feel they would like to talk about what

happened and require support after the event. Please contact

Occupational Health.

When an ambulance is called to an incident where a child

dies or is in cardiac arrest JRCALC protocol should be followed.

Active resuscitation should be carried out unless it is clearly

inappropriate. The child should always be taken to an Accident

and Emergency department even if it has been decided that

resuscitation is not appropriate alerting the A&E department

of the circumstances where resuscitation attempts are active or

ceased, unless the circumstances of the death require the body

to remain at the scene (for forensic examination)and police are

on scene. The reason for this is that a skeletal survey and other

investigations need to be carried out as soon as possible after a

child’s death and if they are left at home or taken to the mortuary

these investigations do not happen.

Documenting as much information as possible on the Patient

Report Form is invaluable when it comes to providing a report to

the LCD by the Safeguarding Lead. It is realised that there is often

commotion at the scene with distressed relatives or bystanders

and staff have a lot to deal with, observations documented at

the end of the handover play a vital role in the process. If staff

are able to document information about the premises that the

incident has taken place in, for example, the state of the premises

in general, the room in which the child was found, how the

parents/guardians of the child were behaving, who was present in

the property, anything in the property that looked unusual or out

of place this would enhance the information required to establish

certain facts as often situations change especially if there are

persons left at the scene. This information can be documented on

the PRF when the crew have time, for example, after verbal but

before PRF completion at hospital.

Crew members who have attended incidents where a child has

died are welcome to attend the LCD with the Safeguard Lead.

Unfortunately this would have to be done in their own time

however you may find attending beneficial, even if it is to clarify

why the child died and the circumstances surrounding the death.

CDOP – Child Death Overview Panel

PRF – Patient Report Form

LCD – Local case discussion

LSCB – Local Safeguarding Board

‘Every Child Matters’ in 2003

Great Britain Department for Children Schools and Family (2010)

Working Together to Safeguard Children. [online]. Available at

http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk Accessed 15/06/2010

ELECTRONIC PATIENT REPORT FORM (ePRF)A business case was recently approved by the Trust board to

implement a trial of the above in one division for Go Live in

October 2010

This will mean an Electronic Patient Report Form will be

accessible via a tough book laptop on all vehicles within the

designated pilot area.

The benefits to patients are:

• TheReceivingunithasdetailsoftheconditionandtreatment

before arrival

• Lesstimeisspentfillinginforms

• Treatmentandcareplanscanbeguidedbycurrentbest

practice and agreed local care pathways improving patient

care

• Accuratepatientdatadrivesbetterresearch

• ViewingofECG’spriortopatientsarrivalatreceivinglocation

• AbilitytosharepatientinformationwithpatientsownGPby

NHS Mail

• Abilitytotakeaccountofpatientssensitivedata

requirements

• Enhancedtablettotablettransfermeaningcontinuityof

patient’s record, without re-keying of information

The benefits to NEAS are:

• FitforpurposeconfigurationequippedtodealwithUK

Emergency Care environment

• WirelessCommunicationandePRFtransfer

• Singletouchdataentry,improvingefficiency

• CADdatadirectlydownloaded

• PaperePRFformproductionnolongerrequired

12

13

The Trust has set up a Project Board to manage this

implementation and more information will be published in the

next Pulse

INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL BARE BELOW THE ELBOWS – CLIP WATCHES

The Health and Social Care Act 2008:

ccompliance criteria 9:

“Have and adhere to policies,

designed for the individual’s care and

provider organisations, that will help to

prevent and control infections.”

Specifically Standard (universal)

infection control precautions, the

policy should be based on evidence

based guidelines, including those on hand hygiene and the

use of personal protective equipment. This incorporates the

Department of Health’s Safe Clean Care Strategy which states that

organisations will implement a Bare Below the Elbow (BBE) policy.

In order to comply with this staff must remove wrist watches.

Ambulance Guideline: reducing infection through effective

practice in the pre-hospital environment. (Department of Health,

2008)

“Healthcare staff are being encouraged to adopt a bare below

the elbows clothing policy for all staff. This aims to prevent the

spread of infection from contaminated sleeves and to aid effective

hand hygiene procedures. This includes ambulance staff and pre-

hospital staff, who are often at risk of contamination from the

duties they carry out.”

“remove watches and roll back/remove long sleeved coats to

wash hands effectively.”

Wrist watches can easily become contaminated with blood and/

or body fluids due to the nature of the episode of patient care in

the pre-hospital environment.

In January 2010 a business case was prepared and presented

to the Executive Team and was approved. The watches where

ordered and have now been disseminated to Operational

Managers to ensure that all NEAS employed staff who deliver

patient care will receive one, this will assist in adopting the bare

below the elbow initiative and will ensure that NEAS complies

with Government Legislation.

The watches will only be supplied once and staff employed by

NEAS up until April 2010, new recruits will have to purchase their

own. Current staff – if the watch is:

• Lost–staffwillhavetoreplace

• Broken–withinfirstyearthemanufacturerwarrantywill

cover, after the year then staff will have to replace

• Batteryneedsreplacing–staffwillhavetoreplace

The watch can be wiped using the Clinell sanitising wipe.

Christine McManus, IPC Manager.

‘PILFAST’ TRAININGThanks to all paramedics who took part in the DASH training

in April and May 2010, It was an extremely successful event.

The clinical trial they will be taking part in is called ‘PILFAST’

(Paramedic Initiated Lisinopril for Acute Stroke Treatment) PILFAST

is one of the studies within the DASH program.

The training days which took place at Hexham General Hospital

covered ‘An introduction to Research including Good Clinical

Practice’, delivered by Dr Sally Mclure, NEAS R&D Manager. This

gave an insight into the guidelines that must be adhered to

when taking part in a clinical trial, why we need these guidelines

and some previous research scandals. Dr Lisa Shaw gave ‘An

introduction to PILFAST’, this gave a background into the trial, the

study aim and objectives. It also looked into the study exclusion

criteria, how to obtain consent, the trial pack and how to

administer the study medication. Followed by Dr Chris Price who

provided a run through of ‘Trial practicalities & example scenarios’.

This gave a more hands on approach that gave everyone the

chance to practice preparing the medication, and running through

the example scenarios.

We look forward to starting the clinical trial in September 2010.

RESEARCH CORNER

13

14

Gail Bevan and Judith Bell from our Occupational Health

Department were on hand all day to give general advice to the

public about healthy living and between them they took over 100

blood pressures. Normally the nurses from Occupational Health

only deal with staff health issues, but they were keen to get

involved with the day to show the public the kind of service they

provide for staff.

Susan Coldron, membership officer for NEAS, also used as

an opportunity to tell the public about our plans to become a

foundation trust and to recruit public members. Joanne Coyne

from Customer Care and Non- Executive Director Helen Tucker also

lent a hand answering questions about how to access the services

provided by North East Ambulance.

The Appointments Commission has appointed Ms Della Cannings

as the new Chairman of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

She succeeds Dr Nick Varey who, after four years as Chairman at

Yorkshire Ambulance Service and a total of 22 years serving on a

number of NHS boards, has decided to retire.

Della Cannings served for 32 years as a police officer in the

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, Cleveland Police and North

Yorkshire Police and was Chief Constable of North Yorkshire

Police between 2002 and 2007. She holds the Queen’s Police

Medal (QPM). Della is currently Deputy Chair of the National

Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care and

Chairman of Independent Advisory Panel of the Army Foundation

College (Harrogate).

Retiring Chairman Dr Nick Varey said: “I have enjoyed being

part of such an ambitious organisation where we have worked

hard to drive forward many improvements in emergency care for

the people of Yorkshire. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to

Della and know that her experience and understanding of the

emergency services will be valuable in helping to lead the Trust.”

Speaking of her appointment, Ms Della Cannings QPM said: “I

am pleased to be appointed Chairman of the Yorkshire Ambulance

Service and look forward to working with the staff to continue

to develop and deliver a first class service of patient care. I pay

tribute to Dr Nick Varey in bringing the service to its current

structure and improved levels of performance.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service Chief Executive Martyn Pritchard

also left the Trust in June 2010 to lead a programme of work to

reform the urgent and emergency care system across Yorkshire

and the Humber.

The recruitment process to appoint Martyn’s successor is

underway by NHS Yorkshire and the Humber.

Healthy Living Event

Changes in Yorkshire Ambulance Service

On Thursday 17th June staff from North East Ambulance Service, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Tees Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Middlesbrough came together to offer advice on health and well- being in Captain Cook Square in Middlesbrough.

Members of the public were invited along to pick up information

and promotional goodies as well as general health advice from

healthcare professionals, including blood pressure awareness,

being safe in the sun and access to psychological therapies and

dementia awareness.

NHS Yorkshire and the Humber has announced changes in the leadership of the Trust Board at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

15

Already piloted in some areas including Gateshead, the ‘green

bag’ scheme will make it easier for all NHS staff to find out which

medicines a patient is taking. This is whether they are admitted in

an emergency or for a planned operation or procedure.

Any drugs being taken by the patient are placed in a green, easy

to identify, and reusable bag with the right dosage information.

The scheme aims to benefit patients and NHS staff by helping

to ensure that the right medicines are given without delay. The

relevant drugs would all be in the same place with up to date

details on what the patient should take and when.

All PTS and A&E ambulance vehicles are to carry the bags as

are hospitals in various locations, including outpatients, A&E,

critical care, medical admissions units and hospital pharmacy

departments.

Hospital pharmacies are encouraging the bags to be given out

at pre-admission clinics and in the longer term it is hoped that the

green bags will be included with the patients’ admission letters.

The bags will be promoted via posters and leaflets in GP surgeries,

community pharmacies and hospital outpatient departments

across the region.

Janette Stephenson from NHS North East said: “The purpose

of the green bags is to help manage medicines effectively when

patients come into hospital, by keeping all of their current drugs

and treatments together in one place.

“This scheme allows for transport with the patient and easy

storage. The main benefits are no interruptions to drug treatment

on admission to hospital and an overall reduction in waste.

“The patient’s medication should be placed in the green bag

before they leave the house. Medication can be reviewed and

changed while people are in hospital but should be kept with the

bag.”

Green bag scheme rolled outA scheme to reduce the waste of medicines and improve safety when patients are in hospital is being launched across the region.

NICE recommends action to reduce alcohol-related harm

Alcohol needs to be less affordable and less easy to buy if we are

to save thousands of lives each year, says new guidance from NICE.

Around 1 in 4 men and women are currently drinking

dangerous amounts of alcohol that are causing, or have the

potential to cause, physical and mental damage.

To help create an environment that supports lower-risk

drinking, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

(NICE) has published guidance outlining the most effective

measures that can be taken to lower the risks of alcohol-related

harm.

ProfessorMikeKelly,PublicHealthDirectoratNICEsaid:

“Alcohol misuse is a major public health concern which kills

thousands of people every year and causes a multitude of physical,

behavioural and mental health problems. What’s more, it costs the

NHS over £2 billion annually to treat the chronic and acute affects

of alcohol – this is money that could be spent elsewhere to treat

conditions that are not so easily preventable.”

Jo Webber, deputy director of policy and director of the

Ambulance Service Network at the NHS Confederation, said:

“Given the facts it is hard to ignore the call made by NICE for a

national minimum unit price for alcohol.

“Treatment available on the NHS will remain only part of the

response in tackling misuse of alcohol. Proper consideration must

be given to society’s drinking habits as a whole.”

Professor Anne Ludbrook, Guidance Developer and a Health

Economist said: “Although many of us are able to enjoy alcohol

responsibly, we are all affected by the small proportion of those

that do not or cannot; for example by the level of disorder you

see in our town centres on Friday and Saturday nights, or the

associated costs to the NHS and other public services, as well as

those who may be quietly drinking themselves into health harms

at home. It is a national problem which we all need to face up to.”

Up to a third of all emergency attendances and ambulance costs are alcohol-related, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Southchurch PTS crew make world class save

After seeing the lady in difficulty, Robert and Ian helped her into

a wheelchair and started to take the lift to the maternity ward.

However, baby had different ideas and arrived into the world on

the way to the second floor. The bouncing baby boy was caught

by Ian who would have made the England cricket team proud.

Chris Dobson, Team Leader South Division PTS said: “Well done

to both crew members we’re very proud. Bother mother and baby

boy both are doing well, despite the sight of those two being his

first view of the world! Congratulations.”

Robert John Hodgson and Ian Hunter, from Southchurch PTS made a world class save after helping a lady to deliver her baby en route to the maternity ward at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

16

Starters and LeaversSTARTERSKirstenAnderson 111CallOperatorAmbulanceHeadquarters

Adam Armstrong 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Benjamin Barnes 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Helen Cook 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Michael Grice 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Iain Heslop 111 Clinical Nurse Adviser Ambulance HQ

Paul Hudson 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

James Johnston 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

RajinderKaur 111ClinicalNurseAdviserAmbulanceHQ

AlanKennedy 111ClinicalNurseAdviserAmbulanceHQ

Michael Laybourn 111 Clinical Nurse Adviser Ambulance HQ

Peter Murphy 111 Clinical Nurse Adviser Ambulance HQ

Graeme Murray 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Herdwick Takazvida Mushawa 111 Clinical Nurse Adviser Ambulance HQ

Fiona O’Roarty 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Marissa Samson 111 Clinical Nurse Adviser Ambulance HQ

Mohammed Izhar Tahir 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

KarlWalker 111CallOperatorAmbulanceHeadquarters

Toni Wilkinson 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Fiona Wilson 111 Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Darryn Cumpson Ambulance Paramedic Chester Le Street Station

Catherine Allen Commercial Training Officer Ambulance HQ

Rebecca Jones HR Advisor Ambulance Headquarters

Peter Lamb Senior Information Analyst Ambulance HQ

John Fraser Information Analyst Ambulance Headquarters

Christopher Wilkins Information Analyst Ambulance Headquarters

Tanya Bell Customer Care Officer Ambulance Headquarters

Emma Bradley SPA Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Rachel Charlton SPA Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Rebecca Henderson SPA Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Laura Pollard SPA Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Carly Ramsey SPA Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

Claire Webster SPA Call Operator Ambulance Headquarters

LEAVERSWilliam Hall ACA B2 11 y 1 m

Sheila McGrath ACA B2 0 y 11 m

Dean McMann Emergency Care Support Worker 0 y 8 m

James Alsop Advanced Technician 18 y 7 m

Janine Munroe Advanced Technician 5 y 0 m

Stuart Thompson Ambulance Paramedic 9 y 4 m

Simon Collins SPA Call Operator 2 y 1 m

KatrinaWatt AmbulanceParamedic 9y7m

SUCCESSFUL RESUSCITATIONS25th May Berwick’s Paramedic Team Leader Dave Redmond

and Advanced Technician Gareth Collins

21st June Paramedic Phil Barlow and Student Paramedic Mark Lennox

2nd July Paramedic Colleen Smith based at Russell House, and Year 1 Student

Paramedic, Rachel Hewitt based at Gateshead Station (They would

also like to thank PC Heron and colleagues from Gateshead Police

Station for their excellent CPR which was much appreciated.)

July Jacqui Nicholls, Morton Park PTS helped in successful resuscitation

at Darlington Memorial Hospital

Obituaries & Tributes

Eric Henderson

Sadly last month, Eric Henderson, who

used to work at Ashington Station passed

away after a short illness. Eric’s funeral was

held at Church point in Newbiggin on the

25th June.

George Dewen

George Dewen first came to Durham

County Ambulance Service as Chief Officer,

from Nottingham where he held a similar

post. George was the Chief Officer of

Durham County Ambulance Service from

1963 until 1987. He lived in Newton

Aycliffe and then Newton Hall during his

time with the service.

Those who worked with him said he

liked everything done the right way and

was a gentleman to work with.

After retiring George moved with his

wife Beryl to Denia in Spain and sadly fell

ill and died aged 84 years old in March

while on a cruise in Columbia. He was

cremated while there and his ashes were

scattered into the sea.

George is survived by Beryl and son Paul

who lives in Denver, USA and a daughter

Elizabeth and two grandchildren who live

in London.

CongratulationsCongratulations to Eve Teasdale from

Southchurch PTS who celebrates 20 years

working PTS this week.

Well done from everyone at Southchurch

PTS and here at the Pulse!

is the

DEADLINE for submissions

to next months Pulse

13thJULY

17

YOUR SHOUTEMAILLETTERS@NEAS.NHS.UK

WRITEPR DEPARTMENT,

BERNICIA HOUSE

NEWBURN RIVERSIDE

NEWCASTLE UPON-TYNE

NE15 8NY

FAX0191 430 2074

All letters are welcome. Please include station/department and contact telephonenumber in letters and emails. If you do not wish for your name and address to bedisplayed please state this. The Pulse reserves the right to edit letters for publication.

Dear Pulse,I am writing concerning the article which was published in the

last Pulse magazine regarding reflection and publishing details of

a case which a member of staff had attended. He attempted to

describe this under the heading of reflection. As a department we

have had a number of concerns regarding the article’s assertion

that it is a reflective piece and also question its validity in terms of

consent, anonymity and ethics.

We were quite disappointed that this did not follow the

reflective process which was described in some detail in May’s

Pulse. This set out the the real benefits for personal and

professional development of reflection and improving the quality

of patient care. This article clearly did none of those things.

We would like to emphasise that it was not a reflective piece

or followed any of the guidance for reflection set out by our

academic partner, Teesside University, or from the large body of

knowledge which has been written about and published from a

number of professions.

I would encourage all clinical staff who may have questions or

would like to know more about this to book themselves on our

internal CPD session ‘Introduction to Reflective Practice’. The

course is available throughout the year and can be booked via the

Education and Training Website.

Mark Nevins

Education Lead - North /South Tyne, Year 1 Programme Leader

Dear Pulse,To Morpeth’s Stephen Eke and James Tosney , 999 call taker

Andrea Feeley, charge nurse Stuart. I write to thank all of you for

the excellent service and attention given to my husband. You tried

so hard but he was a very sick man and very tired and he himself

would appreciate to excellent attention given to him and myself

afterwards. You were all great and worthy of credit.

Your Sincerely,

Choppington Resident

Dear Pulse,I took advantage of the offer of free entry to Alnwick Gardens

that was recently circulated via the intranet. I went on the day and

really enjoyed it, thanks to the communications department very

much for highlighting this offer.

KindRegards

Philip Liscombe

Team Leader,

Chester-le-Street

Dear Pulse,I would like to thank all of you who have so often attended my

dad who lives in Peterlee. Dad had a fall on Saturday 24th April

while he was visiting us at home and was admitted to North Tees

Hospital with a broken arm (Terry Short Peterlee RRV, Seaham’s

Jill Clark and Steve Stansfield). Unfortunately he deteriorated

over the next three weeks due to his long term condition of heart

failure and passed away on Thursday 17th May.

So many of you helped my dad over the years and knew him

due to your repeat visits. He was always relieved to see you as not

only did you deal with his condition but you also put him at ease

during these stressful times.

The Paramedic service has been exceptional and was always

praised by both my dad and ourselves as a dedicated, professional

and empathetic team.

Yours faithfully

Peterlee Resident and Family

Dear Pulse,Thanks to all the drivers for your superb service and support

during my course of treatment at the Freeman Hospital.

Durham Resident

WEDDINGS

Rachel gets marriedOn Friday 4th June Rachel

Powell from PTS Control

married Craig Oliver at the

South Causey Inn. Rachel

looked stunning as she walked

up the aisle with her Dad,

KenPowellwhoworksoutof

Hebburn station. The day was

madeextraspecialasKenand

his wife celebrated their 33rd

wedding anniversary.

KateLambtonKateLambtonwhoworkson

PTS control married Gavin

Lambton in the Lake District

onSunday20thJune.Kateand

Gavin then flew off to New

York for their honeymoon.

18

Sun 04/07/10 Race for Life - ‘On-Site’ 08:30 Aykley Heads Sports Centre 1 x Ambulance Durham

Sat 10/07/10 Mouth of Tyne Festival, South Shields - ‘On-Site’ 08:00 1 x Ambulance South Shields

Sat 10/07/10 International Athletics - Gateshead ‘On-Site’ 14:00 Finish TBC 2 x Ambulances Gateshead

Sun 11/07/10 Race for Life - ‘On-Site’ 08:30 1 x Ambulance TBC

Exhibition Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 x Races - 1 at 10:00 and next at 14:30)

Sun 11/07/10 Triathlon Event, Derwent Reservoir - ‘On-Site’ 08:30 1 x Ambulance Hexham

Fri 23/07/10 Pet Shop Boys, Metro Radio Arena - ‘On-Site’ 17:30 1 x Ambulance Blucher

Fri 23/07/10 Burgham Horse Trials, Burgham, Northumberland ‘On-Site- 07:00’ 1 x Ambulance Ashington TBC

Fri 23/07/10 Sunderland Air Show - ‘On-Site’ 18:00 1 x Ambulance Pallion

Sat 24/07/10 Burgham Horse Trials, Burgham,Northumberland ‘On-Site- 07:00’ 1 x Ambulance Ashington TBC

Sat 24/07/10 Sunderland Air Show - ‘On-Site’ 09:00 2 x Ambulances Pallion

Sat 24/07/10 Newcastle Races - ‘On-Site’ 12:40 3 x Ambulances Ashington

Sat 24/07/10 Hartlepool United v Leeds United - ‘On-Site’ 14:00 1 x Ambulance Peterlee

Sun 25/07/10 Burgham Horse Trials, Burgham,Northumberland ‘On-Site- 07:00’ 1 x Ambulance Ashington TBC

Sun 25/07/10 Sunderland Air Show - ‘On-Site’ 09:00 2 x Ambulances Pallion

Sat 31/07/10 NUFC v PSV Eindhoven - ‘On-Site’ 13:30 4 x Ambulances + ISU Blucher

The events highlighted in ‘BLUE’ - Resource Scheduling find a crew.

The events in ‘BLACK’ - sourced by either Divisional Officers or Event Officers for the Football or Stations for the Racing and Rugby.

The Metro Radio Arena Events in Red are still to be confirmed.

TO COVER ANY OF THE EVENTS PLEASE DO SO THROUGH PROMIS OR CONTACT RESOURCE SCHEDULING.Events cover

PUZZLE PAGECrossword Suduku

Down1. Military chaplain (5)2. Compunction (7)3. Survival (9)4. Fifth sign of the zodiac (3)5. Emblem (5)8. Tried (9)11. Physician (7)13. Frighten (5)15. Tempest (5)17. Drinking vessel (3)

Across1. Eternal (9)6. Water barrier (3)7. Precious gem (7)9. Mistake (5)10. One of the senses (5)12. Expert (3)13. Beer mug (5)14. Score (5)16. Very old (7)18. Self (3)19. Stage name (9)

19

20

NEAS SPORTIf you have any sporting activities that you are involved in, within NEAS or privately please feel free to forward on any information and photographs to the communications team at: publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk where we will be happy to report on it.

Help for Heroes: Hadrian Wall Walk

On June 4th 2010 nine staff from the Teesside Division took part

in a Hadrian Wall Walk starting at Wallsend and finishing on

Wednesday June 9th 2010 in Boweness on Solway. This six day

and 84 mile walk was carried out by; Colin Gibson, Ivan Doherty,

Geoff Rosser, Peter Marshall, Jamie Marshall, Ritchie Morgan,

John Cousins, Ian Gibson and Jayne Cousins all A&E staff from

Middlesbrough, Redcar, Control and the HART team.

Help for Heroes was founded in October 2007 out of a desire

to help the wounded Servicemen and women returning from

Afghanistan and Iraq. The message of the charity is simple: They

are strictly non political and non critical; they simply want to help.

They believe that anyone who volunteers to serve in time of war,

knowing that they may risk all, is a hero.

Help for Heroes raises money to support members of the Armed

Forces who have been wounded in the service of their country.

Over a million people have responded to date and millions of

pounds have been raised to buy much needed services that will aid

their recovery.

The NEAS staff started doing the Hadrian Wall Walk annually

three years ago after Ivan Doherty spent some time during 2007 in

Afghanistan as a medic with the TA.

Ivan explained that “after my time working with the TA

as a medic in Afghanistan I wanted to do something when I

returned to highlight the effort of British troop out in Iraq and

Afghanistan, fighting for our country.”

After months of training in the Cleveland Hills the team of NEAS

staff began their walk. Already they have raised over £3500 but if

any NEAS staff would like to offer a donation please contact:

Colin Gibson on 0777 904 6449 or Ivan Doherty on 07904 066 715

NEAT move to get more people active across the regionPeople across the North East are being urged to travel more

‘actively’ with the launch of a new initiative. The aim is not only

to improve health but also to reduce congestion on our busy roads

and to help strengthen our communities.

Public Health North East is leading efforts to bring the transport

and health sectors together to create more opportunities for safe

active travel across the region.

A group has been set up in partnership with Government Office

for the North East, One North East, the Association of North East

Councils, Nexus and the Living Streets charity.

North East Active Travel (NEAT) will help health and transport

agencies deliver active travel solutions over the next few years.

Professor Stephen Singleton, regional director of public health,

said: “Building physical activity into your daily life is an easy way

to reap the benefits of increased exercise.

“It’s free and doesn’t disrupt your routine to any great degree –

and has the added bonus that you are helping the community and

the environment.

“Schemes such as this will help us make our 25-year regional

Better Health Fairer Health strategy a reality.”

Transport charity Sustrans are coordinating the work and have

stated their commitment to increasing levels of physically active

travel.

For more information on how to travel actively where

you live email info@neatmoves.co.uk or contact Sustrans at

www.sustrans.org.uk

Great North Bike Ride

On Sunday 29th August 2010 the Great North Bike Ride will start

from Seahouses at approximately 9:00am. Cyclists will cycle along

the beautiful North Northumberland coastline. A designated area

of outstanding natural beauty, Seahouses is the ideal starting

point to explore this magnificent part of Northumberland. After

cycling an estimated 56 miles along the scenic coastline you will

arrive at Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Entry Fee is £10 to include

Nike T-Shirt, medal and refreshments.

Transport can also be booked up to Seahouses on the morning

but places are limited so book early if required. The cost is £15 per

person including cycles.

This is a sponsored Charity Bike Ride for The Chris Lucas Trust.

Your entry fee only covers the cost of running the event so please

ask family and friends to sponsor you generously to make a real

difference to the lives of children and young adults suffering from

Cancer.

You can register on-line www.greatnorthbikeride.com

or call 0191 2632884 More information on our website:

www.greatnorthbikeride.com

www.chrislucastrust.com