Ambulance UK October 2021

NEWSLINE
WMAS
Jo Gideon MP
officially opens ERS
Medical’s West
Midlands site
National health and social
care transport company ERS
Medical officially opened its
Campbell Road site in Stokeon-Trent
on 17th September,
with Jo Gideon MP for
Stoke-on-Trent Central as the
honorary guest. Adding to
the company’s widespread
national coverage, this site
further expands ERS Medical’s
presence in the West Midlands,
servicing a non-emergency
patient transport contract for
Staffordshire CCGs and a
high-dependency and nonemergency
patient transport
contract for University
Hospitals North Midlands NHS
Trust, respectively.
The site’s formal opening was
conducted by Jo Gideon MP who
was given a behind the scenes
tour of the Campbell Road site
and shown the vehicles being
used to transport patients. Jo
also got an opportunity to talk
to ERS Medical colleagues
and learn more about the
service being provided for the
contracted regions.
She said, “It is great to get to
know ERS Medical who will be
providing a non-emergency
transport service to many people
in Stoke-on-Trent Central. By
bringing their service to our
region, they have also helped
protect around 200 jobs while
creating further employment
opportunities in the patient
transport sector. It’s important to
have specialist providers like this
who are progressive in supporting
our NHS with the service they
deliver. I’ve enjoyed finding out
more about ERS, looking at their
vehicles and meeting their team.
It is my great pleasure to welcome
them to the region and officially
open their new site.”
Andrew Pooley, ERS Medical’s
Chief Executive Officer, said: “We
were delighted to welcome Jo
to our Campbell Road site for
the formal opening event. Our
new site is home to around 200
colleagues and houses around
50 patient transport vehicles. A lot
of work has gone in to regenerate
and develop the building, making
it specifically suitable to service
our contracts in the region. It was
our pleasure to share the details
of how we work with Jo and give
her an insight into our operations.”
ERS Medical’s Campbell Road
site is one of its three new bases
in the West Midlands.
SCAS
South Central
Ambulance Service
shortlisted for NHS
Trust of the Year
South Central Ambulance
Service NHS Foundation Trust
(SCAS) has been shortlisted
for NHS Trust of the Year
in the HSJ Awards 2021 in
recognition of the contribution
made by the organisation and
its staff to regional, national
and global healthcare.
The award recognises trusts
which are offering excellent
patient-centred care built on
strong engagement between
clinicians within and outside of
an organisation and takes into
account the effects of one of the
most challenges years since the
NHS was formed.
Among the areas of focus for
the judging panel were initiatives
which deliver performance
against targets, clinical quality
and safety, as well as how
trusts have managed their way
through the pandemic along
with financial pressures, staff
wellbeing and integrated care.
In recent years SCAS has
taken a leading role in the
delivery of regional healthcare
by shaping and defining
emergency and urgent care
services and positioning itself
as a ‘care navigator’ for the
needs of patients through close
collaboration with partners.
Other service transformation has
included a pioneering initiative
to help patients receive the
right treatment more quickly
– the urgent care pathways
project – which has so far
seen more than 30,000 people
avoid unnecessary transfers to
emergency departments.
The project, established in
2019, sees ambulance service
clinicians take a leading role in
assessing and treating patients
over the phone or in their homes
when handling 111 or 999 calls
and determining their next
destination for ongoing care.
It has led to many patients
being treated at home, referred
onto their GP, transported to a
treatment centre or admitted
directly into a specialist hospital
service covering medical,
surgical, paediatric, respiratory,
frailty or mental health needs
– by-passing busy emergency
departments.
As the NHS 111 provider for the
South Central region, SCAS has
also led the successful rollout
of NHS 111 First, a triage and
booking system for emergency
departments to help manage
demand and capacity at
hospitals across the region.
In addition, SCAS took on
a significant national role
establishing COVID Response
Services on behalf of NHS
England including a dedicated
arm of NHS 111 – the COVID
Clinical Assessment Service
(CCAS) – made up of GPs,
This has included the
SCAS-led development and
implementation of integrated
urgent care models which
facilitate enhanced clinical
guidance in areas such as
mental health, maternity and
dental care via NHS 111,
demonstrating further expansion
from the traditional model of 999
ambulance care.
nurses and pharmacists to help
manage the needs of patients
with COVID symptoms.
During 2020, SCAS also
pushed ahead with its launch
of a healthcare consultancy
initiative in India – the first NHS
partnership of its kind in the
country – to improve healthcare
provision and ambulance
AMBULANCE UK - OCTOBER
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