Ambulance UK August 2021

NEWSLINE
“The need for change was clear in
Lord Carter’s review of ambulance
services in 2018 which urged better
use of GP and community facilities
to avoid unnecessary ambulance
conveyance, access to a directory
of services, greater clinical and
managerial support for ambulance
staff and new technology.
“I am proud to say at SCAS we
have taken this challenge on and
produced a programme which is
truly changing how we care for
patients by enhancing the skills of
our paramedics, ensuring patients
get the right care as quickly as
possible and reducing the burden
on emergency departments.”
Mark Ainsworth, director of
operations at SCAS, said: “This
is one of the biggest clinical
transformational pieces of work
ever undertaken to deliver on the
core principles of specialist practice
– right care, right place, right time.
“By empowering staff to be
confident in decision-making,
ensuring the options available
for patients are clear to our
clinicians and moving away from
a default approach of transfer to
emergency departments, we are
seeing the delivery of better care
and a more integrated system.”
In an extension of this work in
February SCAS became the first
ambulance service in the country
to supply COVID-19 patients with
home oxygen monitoring kits if
they didn’t require immediate
admission to hospital but were
at higher risk of complications.
In the same month the Trust
introduced COVID-19 testing
of all 999 patients visited at
home – including those without
symptoms – if they required
transfer to hospital to speed up
handovers and release crews
more quickly.
Dr John Black, medical director
at SCAS, added: “The urgent
care pathways initiative at SCAS
has significantly improved care
for patients and has shown
better, more appropriate
management of patients is
achievable.
“It is a real game-changer when
it comes to reducing pressure
in emergency departments, as
is evident from the avoidance
of 30,000 journeys, and that is
of particular importance given
the constant strain being seen
across the country.
“SCAS is a leader in this field
and we were able to accelerate
progress in this space
significantly during the pandemic
with our pulse oximetry and
lateral flow testing pilots which
demonstrated innovation in
the ambulance sector at an
extremely challenging time.”
“It is a real
game-changer
when it comes
to reducing
pressure in
emergency
departments, as
is evident from
the avoidance of
30,000 journeys,
and that is
of particular
importance given
the constant
strain being
seen across the
country.”
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AMBULANCE UK - AUGUST
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