Caring | Team work | Professionalism | Innovation

DECEMBER 2014

South Central Ambulance ServiceNHS Foundation Trust

ALL INA DAY’S WORK

Wishing our readers a very happyand healthy Christmas and New Y ear

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20 VILLAGE CENTRE GETS LIFE SAVING DEFIBRILLATOR

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10 EPR: THE STORY SO FAR

DELIVERING A BABY? ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR A SCAS PARAMEDIC

PORTSMOUTH VS ALDERSHOT REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

999TED

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DEALING WITH A MEDICAL EMERGENCY AT 30,000 FEET

DELIVERING A BABY? ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR A SCAS PARAMEDIC

14THE AMBIES 2014

REALLIFE

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DELIVERING A BABY?ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR A SCAS PARAMEDIC

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When first-time Mum Fiona D’Cruz’s waters broke at 10pm on 22 September at home in Reading, she didn’t panic. Her and husband Dan had been planning a home birth and knew what they had to do. So off they duly went to the Royal Berkshire Hospital to be assessed by the home birthing midwife who confirmed they should go home and prepare for a labour of around 12 hours.

Fiona’s sister, Sarah Donovan, had agreed to be her birthing partner so it was past midnight by the time Fiona, Dan and Sarah returned home from hospital. Whilst Dan began clearing the couple’s lounge and setting up the birthing pool, Fiona turned to Sarah and, despite having being advised to expect to be in labour for at least 12 hours, said she really felt like she wanted to push. Sarah, having checked Fiona, agreed that her birth looked like it was progressing much quicker than anyone expected.

Quickly they got back in touch with the Royal Berkshire but were told that no midwife could come out immediately. With Fiona not having had any pain relief and no professional support at home, they called 999.

“I was beginning to get a bit upset understandably”, says Fiona. “I really wanted a home birth but it wasn’t turning out remotely how we thought it might! I do remember the woman we spoke to on the phone telling us to get hot water and plenty of towels, but it was such a relief when Paul and Adrian turned up at the door.”

Paul Luker and Adrian Thorpe were both on duty that night working out of SCAS’ Reading Ambulance Station and arrived at Fiona and Dan’s home around 1.00am.

“When Paul and Adrian walked in I relaxed immediately”, remembers Fiona. “I felt so much relief – they were both very jolly, very reassuring and when my husband asked if they’d ever done anything like this before, told us they had delivered over a dozen babies each and I was in very safe hands!”

Having given Fiona some gas and air, Paul picked up the phone to the Royal Berkshire and confirmed to the midwife team there that Fiona was indeed very close to giving birth.

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The gas and air was starting to kick in by then.

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“The gas and air was starting to kick in by then”, recalls Fiona, “and I was starting to feel somewhat out of it but I do remember very clearly Paul saying on the phone to the hospital that he and Adrian really wanted to give me the home birth I was after.”

Luckily, the first of two midwives arrived shortly afterwards as without their presence, Fiona would have had to be taken in the ambulance to hospital. With the midwives taking over Paul and Adrian didn’t simply leave them to it. Not only did they help Dan finally get the birthing pool set up – including helping to get Fiona in and out of it twice as the first time the water level was an inch too shallow – they also made sure that Dan, who is Type 1 diabetic, was happy, comfortable and not at risk of hypoglycaemia given the stress and strain he was under too.

Fiona says:

“Malakai arrived at 4.18am on 23 September – and would have been born earlier if his hand hadn’t got stuck. This would have made my labour even quicker than normal for a first child. I do remember a lot of cheering when he came out, which was quite surreal”!

After helping make sure everyone was fit and healthy, Paul and Adrian left to continue their shift.

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The chance to meet both Paul and Adrian again was very important to both Fiona and Dan to say a proper thank you.

“They were like two angels that night”, says Fiona, “and not just reassuring but also so kind and considerate in doing everything they could to make sure we could have our baby at home as planned. Dan, Sarah, myself and of course Malakai were very, very pleased they were on duty.”

The reunion took place at the couple’s home in Tilehurst, Reading, at the end of October and Fiona and Dan presented Paul and Adrian with a pair of ambulance cuff links each. Seeing each other again was something the two SCAS paramedics were delighted to do as well.

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“It was a real privilege to have been part of that special event”, said Paul. “It’s not often you get to see things through from start to finish and both Adrian and I felt a great deal of satisfaction from being able to give Fiona and Dan the home birth that they wanted and had planned for despite some challenging circumstances. Thanks to great, calm teamwork and reassurance from everyone I don’t think Fiona and Dan realised what a fluid situation it was, with various eventualities and scenarios continually being planned and prepared for as Fiona became tired and the prospect of conveying her to hospital became closer and closer.”

“The midwives on scene were excellent”, added Adrian, “and the cheering that Fiona was aware of at birth was our relief and happiness at a terrific outcome. At a time when our workload feels relentless, these moments are what helps make it worthwhile.”

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ePR: THE STORY SO FAR (Electronic Patient Record)

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ePR (Electronic Patient Record) is probably one of the biggest technological revolutions to come to frontline pre hospital care for some time.

Throughout my involvement with the project, I have been driven by how this technology can so effectively reduce the administrative and clerical demands on road crews, whilst simultaneously improving the accuracy and relevance of our patient recording and reporting. The software has a multitude of built-in tools, forms and guidelines that can aid clinical decision making on scene, ensuring that the patient receives the right treatment and care pathway. Information is now literally at the crews fingertips and can be distributed at the push of a button to the people who need it, in real time. It has been highly rewarding to see the fruits of the ePR teams efforts in an operational context, with North Hampshire ‘Go Live’ on 6 October and South West Hampshire live on 12 November.

Feedback from staff in these areas has been inspiring and humbling. It is an absolute tribute to our people that they have adapted so quickly to such a massive development in patient reporting.

I have also been humbled by how much importance and emphasis has been placed on building an ePR that was configured by road crews, for road crews. A great deal of time was invested in the development and testing of a tablet that would be intuitive and logical for any crew to pick up and use – this is a unique feature that was developed by SCAS, for SCAS. I think there has been a huge change in the style of how we report patient details, but the fundamentals are still the same. Many months were spent ensuring the layout was logically constructed and undoubtedly the style of the ePR has deviated from the medical model that we were used to completing. Through doing this, I hope we have an ePR as relevant for a new ECA (Emergency Care Assistant) to use as it would be for a BASICS Doctor to use.

This has greatly standardised our reporting and this improvement in quality will now provide hospitals and our partner agencies with more relevant and timely information on patient conditions.

This is not to say that we have not experienced challenges. I am reassured by how quickly the ePR team responded to correcting unexpected issues and how resilience was built-in so that they were unlikely to re-occur. This is in no small part due to the complete dedication that I have witnessed the ePR team consistently display; the service could not have asked for better people to lead and drive this initiative. I have also been reassured by how crews have reported such issues to us, and how they have responded with innovation and positivity for their ePR. However we are driving hard to make ePR more resilient to technical issues that have been identified and I am confident we will achieve this in the near future.

The future of ePR has endless potential; we on the team look forward to further roll outs across the trust, incorporating summary care records, introduction of ZOLL / ePR integration, strengthened hospital use of ePR information crews have collected, direct referrals via email to GPs and more built-in tools to aid decision making/accurate reporting. We as a team are just beginning to realise the potential of how the information that crews are gathering could be used in the wider NHS to provide more appropriate care pathways for our patients. The system is inherently flexible, so we are able to respond to the demands that our road crews place on ePR and we will continue to evolve it and develop it in the direction they require.

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James LawrenceParamedicePR Project

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South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) has celebrated the skill and dedication of its staff and volunteers at its annual staff awards ceremony, the AMBIES.

SCAS RECOGNISES EXCEPTIONAL STAFF AT AMBIES AWARDS

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Staff from across the organisation gathered for the black tie event in Hampshire on Friday 28 November to celebrate the hard work and commitment that SCAS staff and volunteers demonstrate in their roles every day of the year

SCAS Chief Executive, Will Hancock, opened the ceremony in front of around 170 nominated staff and their guests, praising the professionalism and care provided by staff and volunteers throughout the area covered by SCAS - Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. He said:

“Each year SCAS gets bigger and better and this has been a truly remarkable year thanks to all our staff and volunteers. Congratulations to everyone who was nominated, shortlisted and a special well done to this year’s winners.”

SCAS was privileged to have at the ceremony HM Queen’s representative, the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Mr Nigel Atkinson Esq. to present 44 staff with their Queen’s Long Service and Good Conduct medals and their SCAS Long Service Medals which commemorate 20 years of dedicated service.

In addition, the evening recognised staff who were nominated by their peers from across the whole organisation including frontline ambulance staff (Emergency and Patient Transport), staff from support services, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), NHS 111, commercial services and our vital volunteers.

This year, a record breaking 162 nominations were entered across 11 award categories.

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SCAS’s special guest for the evening, Falklands War veteran, Mr Simon Weston OBE, shared his praise and admiration for frontline emergency services, before presenting the winners with their awards on stage

One of SCAS’s Governors, Pat Conafray, presented the Governor’s Ambassador Award to Nic Morecroft. The award recognises a member of staff, volunteer, governor or member who has made significant progress in developing key relationships for the benefit of our patients.

Nic was recognised for her work in promoting the benefits of Community First Responders throughout the SCAS network. Nic’s commitment to installing and promoting as many Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) as possible was also praised.

SCAS Chairman, Trevor Jones, added:

“It is my fourth AMBIES as the Chairman of SCAS and I can assure you that it is a very moving experience when you hear the stories about staff and volunteers going above and beyond what they do in treating patients through the year.”

of SCAS and I can assure you that it is a very moving experience when you hear the stories about staff and volunteers going above and beyond what they do in treating patients through the year.”

The 2014 winners were:

Ù A&E Person of the Year: Wendy Mitchem-Lines

Ù 111 Person of the Year: Maurice McGinlay

Ù Commercial Services Person of the Year: Anna Clarkson

Ù EOC Person of the Year: Paul Rudd

Ù Support Person of the Year: Georgie Cole

Ù Volunteer of the Year: Mike Jukes

Ù Team of Year: ECP Team South

Ù Educator of the Year: Karen Ainsworth-Smith

Ù Governors Ambassador Award: Nic Morecroft

Ù CEO’s Commendation for Outstanding Service to the Trust: Chris Jackson

Ù Chairman’s Special Award: Donna Pearce

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Anyone in the Bransgore area interested in learning how to conduct CPR should contact the local Heartstart Group on 0844 500 9699.

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Another life-saving defibrillator has been unveiled in the centre of Bransgore. The unit, in its distinctive yellow box, has been installed at The Co-operative Food store in the centre of Bransgore. The ambulance service 999 call handlers will be able to direct people to it, in cases where a cardiac arrest has occurred or is imminent.

Bransgore Parish Council has paid for the defibrillator and The Co-operative agreed that it could be placed on the outside wall of its Bransgore food store.

Stephen Cartwright, Community Defibrillation Officer from South Central Ambulance Service, Community First Responder Samantha Parris and Nick Evetts, Manager of The Co-operative food store in Bransgore were present when Chairman of the Parish Council, Richard Frampton, formerly handed over the unit for the benefit of residents and visitors to Bransgore.

Speaking for the Council Richard said, “The Parish Council is very pleased to be involved in this initiative to provide this device and to work in partnership with Bransgore Community First Responders and The Cooperative Food store. I am particularly pleased that Bransgore will see the benefit of this life-saving equipment and that this partnership has had such a positive outcome.”

Nick Evetts, Manager of The Co-operative Food store in Bransgore said:

“As a community retailer, it is important to us that in addition to providing the community with their everyday essentials, that we make a positive contribution to society too – we are pleased that we have been able to work with the Bransgore Parish Council to support the emergency services and the community in this way.”

Defibrillators are becoming more common in areas where many people gather, or in rural areas where ambulances may take longer to arrive. The units need no special training and with hands only CPR they can greatly improve the chances of survival after a cardiac arrest.

Samantha Parris of the Bransgore Community First Responders said, “These devices can help save lives in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest and before an ambulance or community first responder can arrive. They need no special training. You can’t put a price on saving a life.”

The community first responders will check and maintain the unit regularly and the ambulance service 999 call handler will, in appropriate cases, direct local callers to the defibrillator and provide them with the security code to open the box.

VILLAGE CENTRE GETS LIFE SAVING DEFIBRILLATOR

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STUDENTS GIVE SCAS THE THUMBS UP

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DEC 14

The annual Placement of the Year Awards was held in October at Oxford Brookes University and SCAS was delighted that the Trust’s Kidlington Resource Centre was nominated for ‘Placement of the Year’.

The shortlist was drawn from the hundreds of placements Brookes Health Care students attend each year across the Thames Valley and London.

Students at Kidlington gave the centre the following glowing testimonial on their nomination form:

“I feel there is genuine care and empathy for me. I honestly feel like I have been part of a family that wants to see me succeed and achieve as much as possible. I would really like Kidlington to get the recognition it deserves.”

Nominations for the Placement of the Year Awards are based on excellent mentorship, the whole place environment and how a student was made to feel welcome as part of the team by all staff. Although we didn’t win overall, staff at the Trust’s Kidlington Resource Centre should be extremely proud of being recognised as providing such an enthusiastic and nurturing learning environment.

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An innovative initiative with trainee GPs that began two years ago in Berkshire has rapidly grown from strength to strength. Not only has it now become an integral part of the Hampshire GP Training Programme, it will hopefully achieve similar status in the northern part of the SCAS area early next year and is being replicated by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust for the first time this year too.

The event is co-ordinated in partnership between SCAS and Health Education England (HEE), the organisation responsible for workforce development of around 90,000 pre-registration and post-graduate healthcare workers across the Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire.

These events are hosted by SCAS twice a year to coincide with the GP rotations and educate the trainee GPs about what the ambulance service does (and just as importantly, what it should not be used for), as well as highlighting the huge range of skills that SCAS staff can deliver.

The most recent session was held at Southern House on Saturday 13 September and was one of the best attended events yet with 52 trainee GPs present. Under the theme ‘Help us to help your patients’, the day comprised of a series of presentations from SCAS staff and scenarios, such as identifying which transport options the GPs would chose given certain ‘medical cases’ they might see. In addition, the trainees spent time looking around a frontline ambulance to better understand the equipment and role they deliver, along with an opportunity to practice their own Basic Life Support (BLS) and defibrillation skills.

The day of the event was a particularly busy time for SCAS and for some time, there were no ambulances available in the whole of Hampshire, with many ambulances queuing outside one of the county’s hospitals. This was a big wake up call for the GPs and highlighted the huge increases in demand SCAS is currently facing.

In Hampshire alone, emergency calls have increased from just under 135,000 a year in 2007/08 to over 155,000 a year in 2011/12, and demand in 2014/15 is expected to be 25% above 2011/12 levels.

From the Trust’s point of view, the GP Training Day helps reinforce the need for GPs and all HCPs (healthcare professionals) to use the dedicated telephone number to call for appropriate transport, rather than bypass this and call 999. It also provides SCAS with the opportunity to identify those occasions where GPs, or other practice staff, should be considering alternative transport options rather than defaulting to an ambulance (for example, when a patient has made their own way to the surgery and are not requiring urgent or lifesaving treatment).

One of the most valuable parts of the day is the chance for GPs to spend time in the Trust’s Emergency Operation Centres (EOC). Whilst with the EOC team they listened to real calls, watched the dispatch process, saw at first hand the huge resourcing challenges and gained an insight in to and understanding of the pressures, complexity and challenges facing a modern day ambulance service day in, day out. They also sit with our NHS 111 staff so that they have a better understanding of the way that 111 calls are dealt with.

Mark Ainsworth-Smith, Consultant Pre-Hospital Care Practitioner at SCAS, who has been heavily involved with the GP Training Day since its inception, said:

“This initiative would not work without the fantastic support of Tony Peters in the EOC along with all the EOC staff who have embraced having the GPs in their control room. They recognise that the effort is worthwhile – because GPs unquestionably change their thought processes (and inappropriate use of our service) when they have undertaken the day.”

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PORTSMOUTH FC vs ALDERSHOT TOWN FC.FRATTON PARK 9 NOVEMBER 2014.

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PORTSMOUTH FC vs ALDERSHOT TOWN FC.FRATTON PARK 9 NOVEMBER 2014.

28Photos courtesy of Portsmouth FC

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Aldershot Town were drawn to play Portsmouth Football Club in the 3rd round of the prestigious FA Cup, a competition that Portsmouth won in 2008 and were beaten finalists in 2010.

South Central Ambulance Service provides a service and attends all Portsmouth FC home games, with two frontline crews an ECP (Emergency Care Practitioner) and Bronze and Silver Officers. SCAS are ably supported by St John’s Ambulance Service who position many crews around the ground for fan and staff safety.

On this occasion SCAS staff in attendance were Nick Brunt (Duty Silver), Lewis Meale (Duty Bronze), Heather Knight (ECP), Hayley Saunders and Lyndsey Thompson (Alpha One), Jack Boaden and Sam Tilley (Alpha Two) and UCAS Student Observer David Ranjbar.

Before kick-off Nelson, Portsmouth FC’s Club Mascot posed for photos with supporters and SCAS staff, helping maintain the friendly family atmosphere that the club has helped promote since being owned by its own supporters.

Portsmouth FC put on a wonderful remembrance for all those who fell during the World Wars which included a two minute silence and a small parade of military veterans and personnel.

With the two minute silence impeccably observed the game kicked off and the Conference Premier side, Aldershot, belied their underdog status by putting League Two Pompey under pressure in the opening minutes. However, after 15 minutes Portsmouth had played themselves back into the game and took the lead courtesy of a Jed Wallace penalty.

That was the way the match stayed until the stroke of half time when Aldershot equalised and the Shots carried that momentum into the second half. They were by far the better team going forward and deservedly took the lead on the 68th minute to stun the Fratton Park crowd into silence.

The professionals of Portsmouth huffed and puffed to little effect against their amateur opposition and were fortunate to equalise with just nine minutes remaining to prevent an embarrassing Cup exit. The match finished 2-2 on the day, and the teams replayed at Aldershot’s ground on Wednesday 19 November where Pompey’s luck finally ran out as the Shots won 1-0.

Portsmouth FC v Aldershot Town FC

FA CUP 3rd Round Tie 2pm Fratton Park - Portsmouth Sunday 9 November 2014.

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DEALING WITH A MEDICAL EMERGENCY AT 30,000 FEET

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Luckily, having to assess and treat someone suffering a sudden illness or accident when you’re over five miles up in the air is not something that many SCAS paramedics have to deal with. But it’s something airline staff have to be trained to be able to respond to and, whilst not having the full skills or experience of a qualified paramedic, ensure that they give the passenger the best possible chance of survival and recovery.

Ross Smith, Team Leader of South East 24 (SE 24) which was formed in May 2012, has always helped develop and maintain the strong teamworking ethos in SE 24 through a mixture of classroom and experiential learning. It was on one of these latter teamworking events in July this year that saw SE 24 share the Isle of Wight hovercraft back to the mainland with a team from Virgin Atlantic. Both the SCAS paramedics and airline staff had independently spent the day on a series of challenging, but fun, teamworking activities. Never one to miss an opportunity to network, Ross engaged the airline team in conversation and by the time the vessel docked he had secured an invitation to visit Virgin Atlantic’s HQ with Katie Bailey, the airline’s Head of Training. It would be the first time in Virgin’s history that the company had opened its doors to a team of NHS paramedics.

“Katie had invited our whole team to visit on 25 September”, says Ross, “so before that date I visited ‘The Base’ (as the HQ and training facility at Crawley is known by Virgin’s staff) to view the facilities and plan a day for the team that would be educational and of course fun and different. It would be away from our normal roles but important that we all learnt valuable lessons that we could bring back to our day jobs.”

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On the date of the visit, the SE 24 team all met up in full uniform and travelled together to Crawley. They were met by Katie and were pleased to see that all the Virgin ground staff were in their uniform too – something they didn’t normally do. Katie met the SCAS team and outlined, in a mock aircraft fuselage, what the day would entail. Having watched a short film on the origins of the Virgin company and Sir Richard Branson, SE 24 made their way to a classroom used at The Base for medical training.

This was, as Ross explains, a valuable session with shared learnings for both SCAS and Virgin Atlantic:

“Another member of Katie’s training team, Fiona, discussed with us how the cabin crew attend a sick passenger mid-flight, what equipment they normally have access to on board and the protocols that are in place to decide when a plane might need to divert.

“With the expertise in SE 24 we were able to build on the medical training the Virgin staff have received and suggest additional things they can do in an emergency. We also made them aware of some of the latest equipment we use on a daily basis that they might be able to get added as standard equipment on board. Something like a Lucas device for example, a piece of equipment that automatically carries out manual chest compressions effectively, could make a real difference as it eliminates the potential risk of less effective or ineffective compressions when people naturally start to tire after a few minutes of giving manual CPR.”

The medical part of the day took the team up to lunch time where they enjoyed an unexpected treat.

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“Katie and her team invited us into a mock Upper Class Cabin where, completely unexpectedly and at Virgin’s own cost, they served us lunch – giving us exactly the type of food, drinks and service that Upper Class paying passengers enjoy on their flight!”, says Ross. “Clearly some of the SE 24 team are used to the best as they seemed to fit right in!”

After lunch, the SCAS paramedics were taken to the emergency evacuation and safety training area where they donned red overalls and were given safety briefs. Everyone in the team then descended the inflatable evacuation chutes and performed life raft drills supervised at all times by Virgin staff. These training fuselages are used to help cabin crew practice evacuation from smoked filled areas and crashed aircraft. SE 24 were taken through those drills along with going through the standard safety briefings that cabin crew give on board. After a few group photos, picking up certificates for their CPD portfolios and saying their goodbyes, SE 24, reluctantly, left The Base and travelled home.

“It was an amazing learning experience”, says Ross, “that has left us all buzzing. I am so proud that every single member of the team gave up a day off to do this but by the end we all realised every minute had absolutely been worth it. We are so grateful to Katie, David, Marc, Claire, Fiona, Angie and Nick at Virgin for their time, kindness and for making this SE 24’s best training day ever! We are definitely richer for the experience, I feel that we gave absolutely first class service as ambassadors for SCAS and we were able to share some of our expertise and learning that could really help the Virgin Atlantic team save someone’s life in an emergency too. You can’t really ask for more than that from a training day!”

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TINA TAKES PATIENT TRANSPORT CUSTOMER CARE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

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DEC 14

Ambulance Care Assistant (ACA) Tina Neville has spent the last nine years making sure that people being transported by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) NHS Foundation Trust’s Patient Transport Service receive the best possible care. But Tina also epitomises the desire of many people within SCAS who want to continue to improve.

It’s why for the past 12 months, Tina has been taking a distance learning NVQ in Customer Care. The qualification is designed for work-based learning for those people employed in a customer-facing role and, at first glance, might seem a strange choice for an ACA. But Tina was adamant that it would benefit both the organisation and her patients, which is why PTS Manager Stacey Warren was delighted to support Tina’s qualification.

“The NVQ for Customer Care isn’t just for people working in retail, a contact centre or the more obvious places we think of where a business deals with customers”, says Stacey. “The same principles and qualities are required – and expected – by patients we transport day in, day out.”

And Tina agrees wholeheartedly.

“My role, assisting people being transported to and from their home to a hospital or clinic, means I have to assess the differing needs of each person when we arrive to collect them. It can also be a worrying time for some people, so I have to make sure I keep them calm, content and happy with every aspect of their journey. If that’s not customer service, I don’t know what is!”

The NVQ is a mixture of home study and tutors coming along with Tina to observe, ask questions and assess her skills on the job. Tina has been using PCs at SCAS after her shift ends, or before it begins, to make sure she completes her home study. When some of her shifts are from 8am to 8pm, it again shows her dedication and commitment to her patients that she’s prepared to carry on working when many of us might have preferred to collapse on the sofa at home.

“The theory part”, says Tina, “is all about guiding you to better work out the needs of people – your customers – and how you can fulfil those needs. The practical bit, where the tutor comes out with me on shift, is where they observe how I deal with people face-to-face and they’re looking for evidence that what I’ve learnt in terms of the theory I can put in to practice.”

Tina has one more final ‘observation day’ to go (the equivalent of an end of course exam) and feedback so far from her tutor suggests she should be confident in achieving her new NVQ qualification. And for Tina’s next steps?

“I enjoy the job I do and want to keep doing it”, she says. “Some people might seek qualifications to help them get a new job or promotion. But for me, doing my NVQ was to make sure I keep my knowledge up to date and refresh my skills so that I know I’m following current best practice.”

And judging by the feedback from her patients, that’s exactly what Tina keeps doing for SCAS every working day.

What others say about us

The call taker was lovely and the 111 service us wonderful, reassuring and all round fabulous!

My accident was made more bearable by your care and kindness – not just to me but to my husband… A big thank you to you all

I would just like you to convey to her how much I appreciated her kind words and understanding. You all have a difficult job but to conduct it in this way goes beyond the call of duty, for which I am very grateful.

I would like to thank both the crews for the care, kindness and competence I received. Your paramedics are a credit to you and it’s great to know the general public are in such safe hands with these wonderful people working in the emergency services.

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What others say about us

The crew were excellent. Professional and friendly, called the cardiology department and I had been assessed, treated by angioplasty and was in a recovery bed 2 hours after my initial call to 111. Big thank you for an excellent service

The effort and dedication you all put in trying to save him I shall long remember, with gratitude.

I am impressed by the kindness and professionalism received from both the crew and the Emergency Operations Centre

We wanted to thank the PTS crew that came out to her today. She said that they were amazing. She was really upset because her appointment was cancelled because the MRI machine was broken and they were very supportive

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DEC 14

TOTAL 999 ACTIVITY

RED 1 [19 mins]RED 1 [8 mins]

43,142

NON CONVEYANCE

16,705NON CONVEYANCE %

43.04%

70.43% 95.67%

RED 2 [19 mins]

95.02%74.44%93,571

111 CALLS ANSWERED

CFR RESPONSES

46,302PTS JOURNEYS

2,988

RED 2 [8 mins]

What does it mean?

Total 999 activity equates to the number of calls which received a SCAS response or were dealt with by our clinical support desks Non conveyance is the number of incidents we responded to where the patient was not taken to hospital.

Non conveyance % is the percentage of incidents we responded to where the patient was not taken to hospital.

Red 1 - Red 1 calls are the most time critical and cover cardiac arrest patients who are not breathing and do not have a pulse, and other severe conditions.

Red 2 - For Red 2 calls, which are serious but less immediately time critical and cover conditions such as stroke and fits.

HOW WE’RE DOINGOCTOBER 2014 FIGURES

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TOTAL 999 ACTIVITY

RED 1 [19 mins]RED 1 [8 mins]

43,142

NON CONVEYANCE

16,705NON CONVEYANCE %

43.04%

70.43% 95.67%

RED 2 [19 mins]

95.02%74.44%93,571

111 CALLS ANSWERED

CFR RESPONSES

46,302PTS JOURNEYS

2,988

RED 2 [8 mins]

All figures are provisional.

111 calls answered is the number of calls answered through the non-emergency healthcare service.

CFR stands for Community First Responder.

PTS stands for Patient Transport Service.

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DEC 14

TWEETHere is a small selection of Tweets

that we have recently received from

our partners, stakeholders and the

public. Click here to read more and

to follow us!

ukcavhead Oct 26, 11:56am

Can’t praise professionalism and attitude enough of @SCAS999 crew who just dealt with the mother in law’s broken leg #missedwordbefore

ladywalks83 Nov 18, 9:27pm

Just home from 12 shift out on the Ambulance with @SCAS999 LOVED IT!! Looking forward to the night shift tomorrow now #CFR #Eynsham

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5,951 followers

5,951 followers

WelMedical Nov 10, 12:54pm

Wow! Great mews for @SCAS999 as the 1000th defib uploaded to their #LifesavingApp

Follow us on Twitter @SCAS999www.twitter.com/SCAS999

portsmouthCCG Nov 07, 3:16pm

Well done to Andrew Davidson from the armed forces and @SCAS999 winner of NHS Award for outstanding collaborative leadership #TVWLAwards

BucksHealthYF Nov 12, 9:15pm

Andy Batty from @SCAS999 now speaking about distance and travelling times at the Wycombe urgent care review

Cygnet_2009 Nov 12, 8:39pm

The @NHS111 @SCAS999 service is superb. The most helpful people at the end of the phone. Well done. #PublicService.

5,951 followers

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5,951 followers

13,153public membersto date

8,000

13,000

NUMBER OFFOUNDATION

TRUST MEMBERS

5,000

12,000

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Wishing you a happy and healthy Christmas and new year

Foun

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mem

ber

ship

DATES FOR YOUR DIARYDATE EVENT VENUE

Saturday 10 January 12 noon to 4pm

Hope Festival (joint event with Awaaz FM)

The Hub Theatre City College Southampton

You can make a difference!

For more information, email getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk

or phone 01869 365126.

Thank you

for

your suppo

rt

members!

13,153public membersto date

8,000

13,000

NUMBER OFFOUNDATION

TRUST MEMBERS

5,000

12,000

DEC 14

45

4 JULY

The Communications team is always keen to promote stories in Working Together. Please email any news, stories or comments to: communications@scas.nhs.uk

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation TrustUnits 7-8 Talisman Business Centre Talisman RoadBicesterOX26 6HR

www.scas.nhs.uk

DEADLINE for copy for the next issue: 15 December.Please keep articles under 250 words.

15DEC

Design » Ben Hennessy - ben.hennessy@scas.nhs.uk