Ambulance UK April 2021

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NEWSLINE WAST Wales – The Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST) will receive 84 new operational vehicles as part of Welsh Government £10.9M investment The Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething has also announced a further £1.6m in funding to the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) to expand the service into a 24/7 operation and establish the Critical Care Transfer Service. This is additional money following the £1.7m already given to the service. This service will support the national transfer of critically ill adults across Wales. Ambulances in Wales, the relevance of the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) provides consultant and critical care practitioner-delivered prehospital critical care across Wales. The funding announced today will allow the service to upgrade its existing fleet, allowing the service to deliver the best care for people in Wales. “I’m also pleased to announce further funding which will establish a new Critical Care Transfer Service and see the expansion of EMRTS to a 24/7 operation, in partnership with the Wales Air Ambulance Charity.” Chris Turley, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Executive Director of Finance, said: “Our ambulances and response cars in Wales are some of the most modern and well equipped in the UK and this funding will allow us to continue to replace our vehicles as they reach the end of their working life “Modern ambulances are essential in order that we can continue to provide the best treatment and patient experience possible. “They’re also important for staff who spend the majority of their working day out and about in the community. “It’s never been more important than ever to have a fleet which keeps the wheels turning on our ambulance service, and we’re grateful to Welsh Government for its continued support.” specialist critical care ambulances will give us the capacity to support colleagues across NHS Wales with the transfer of critically ill patients between hospitals by road. “We are very grateful for the ongoing support from Welsh Government, which has allowed our service to grow and make a significant contribution to critical care in Wales.” RCUK welcomes CQC and Compassion in Dying reports into DNACPR use during the pandemic Quote from Resuscitation Council UK for publication Sue Hampshire, Director of Clinical and Service Development at Resuscitation Council UK, said: “People should be at the centre of their care and decision making. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into the spotlight inconsistencies in the ways DNACPR decision making is carried out across the UK and just how crucial it is that decisions about CPR are discussed in the broader context of overall goals of care. “Both the CQC review and Compassion in Dying reports puts the person at the heart of the conversation and ensures that people’s views about CPR are taken into consideration. The process is already used in around 70-80% of English counties. “The ReSPECT process helps to ensure that clinical recommendations around emergency care and treatment, including decisions about CPR, are not made in isolation. Instead, any recommendations made are part of a broader conversation which aims to develop a shared understanding with the person, their legal proxy or family, about the person’s condition, the outcomes the person values and those they fear and clinical recommendations about future emergency care and treatment. As such the ReSPECT process provides reassurance that recommendations around whether CPR should be attempted are made in the context of what’s important to the person concerned. “We would like to see all regulatory bodies across the UK and all health and social care organisations recognise the value of the ReSPECT process so that people and their families can take part in person-centred discussions and decision-making. This will help ensure quality, person-centred care and treatment for all wherever they live across the UK.” AMBULANCE UK - APRIL It was launched at the end of April 2015 and is a partnership between Wales Air Ambulance Charity, Welsh Government and NHS Wales. The funding will be used to fund three specialist critical care ambulances and will see investment in equipment to support the expansion of the EMRTS service Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, said: “The Welsh Ambulance Service has experienced a huge surge in demand on its services due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Role of ambulances in Wales: Lockey’s analysis, EMRTS National Director Professor David Lockey, EMRTS National Director, added: “The funding has allowed us to extend our critical care provision into a 24/7 service. This, along with our partnership with the Wales Air Ambulance Charity, has helped us improve equality of access to rapid emergency-department standard care across the country. “In addition, the funding for three highlight the importance of information, training and support, the need for people to be at the centre of their care and decision making and the need for a consistent, national approach to advanced care planning. People should be supported in decision-making sensitively and effectively wherever they live around the country. “We urge NHS England and Improvement to take this opportunity to champion the use of the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) process nationally. ReSPECT Background information Resuscitation Council UK welcomes the publication of two crucial reports today into Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. We call upon NHS England and Improvement to champion the use of the Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) process nationally. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its final 48 For more news visit: www.ambulanceukonline.com
NEWSLINE report following its review of DNACPR decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last few months, the CQC has engaged with a range of stakeholders, including RCUK. They have spoken to people and their families affected by DNACPR decision-making during the pandemic, to a range of health and social care providers and professionals involved in their care and reviewed people’s records in seven CCG areas. This has led to them making recommendations around the following key areas: • information, training, and support • the need for a consistent, national approach to advanced care planning and DNACPR decisions • oversight and assurance at local and system level to ensure that people experience personalised, compassionate care in relation to DNACPR decisions The report cites ReSPECT as a good example of an advance care planning process that when done well, can support everyone to make decisions about their future care and treatment. SCAS Paramedics turn written-off ambulance into innovative training simulation pod Paramedics at South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) have given life-saving treatment to an ambulance which was written off after a road traffic collision – by using it to create an innovative training pod. The SCAS education team in Newbury had the body of the vehicle repaired to repurpose it as a training simulator and provide the opportunity for students to learn in the real thing. It weighs 4.5 tonnes before the addition of kit and includes all the essentials – as well as a working tail lift and even a power line to flick on the blue lights and sirens to add to the experience. It is the latest addition to the family of simulators at the SCAS Education and Enhanced Simulation Centre, a facility that includes six purpose-built training and environment rooms that recreate patients’ journeys from “The ambulance converted was unfortunately involved in a serious road traffic collision and was not fit to return to the road, so not only have we avoided losing a vehicle from the fleet, we are now in the fortunate position of using this one to train a new generation of staff.” He added: “While there are many simulators around, many of these are purpose-built as opposed to developed from real vehicles and are therefore limited in their ability to provide a real-life training environment. “We believe this is the first pod of its kind having been salvaged from the scrapheap and able to provide the most realistic experience of any simulator – so we are extremely pleased with the outcome. “We’ve even had a label added to the side to say it is probably the best ambulance pod in the country - we think it is!” will be the first to use the new kit. Medics will be able to press a button to record if a patient or member of the public becomes threatening or aggressive. The footage can then be used in court to aid prosecutions. Paramedic Kristoffer Fairhurst, based in Burnley, will be amongst the first to use the cameras. He said: “Sadly it is all too common for frontline staff to be subject to violence by the very people we are trying to help. I have worked for the ambulance service for 13 years and during that time I have been kicked, spat at, shouted at and even threatened with a knife. “This should not be happening and I am hoping that these cameras will give us an extra level of protection to deter incidents of abuse as well as assist with prosecutions and make staff feel safer.” In 2020, almost 400 incidents of physical assaults were reported against staff in the North West, a rise of 4% since 2018 despite lockdown measures in place. In addition, there were 1,061 incidents of verbal abuse or threatening behaviour reported. Director of Operations Ged Blezard A report, also published today, by the charity Compassion in Dying, highlights the good and bad experiences of people from across the UK who have contacted them about DNACPR decisions made for them or their loved ones during the pandemic. While these significant reports highlight examples of poor practice in relation to DNACPR decision-making during the pandemic, they also recognise that not everyone wants cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to be attempted. For many people, DNACPR decisions offer reassurance that they will not be given an intervention that may be home, into to a mobile simulated ambulance and then at handover to a hospital’s emergency department resuscitation bay. “What we really love about the introduction of this simulation pod is that its authenticity will give students a much more enhanced and lifelike insight into the workings of the vehicle and its kit,” said Darren Best, Senior Education Manager at SCAS. NWAS Ambulance service to trial body worn cameras Ambulance crews in the North West are set to be equipped with body worn video cameras in a bid to reduce violence and aggression against frontline staff. As part of a national pilot, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) will be rolling out the cameras from 31 March. It will start in areas that see the highest number of incidents of abuse against staff. Central Manchester, East said: “Our staff work day in, day out to protect and care for their patients, they do not deserve to be subject to abuse and assaults. “It’s a top priority for us to keep our staff safe and this is a huge step towards reducing violence and aggression against them. Not only will this aid in prosecutions of offenders but it is hoped to help de-escalate situations and avoid attacks from even taking place” NWAS has a dedicated violence and aggression group that has been set up to proactively target frequent offenders and work with the police and partner agencies to put sanctions in place where AMBULANCE UK - APRIL unwanted or unsuccessful. Lancashire and parts of Merseyside possible. Do you have anything you would like to add or include in Newsline? Please contact us and let us know. 49
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Ambulance UK April 2021

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