The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Serious call-outs prioritised
Response times: New system aims to get ambulances to emergencies faster
Anewambulance response system to prioritise serious road crashes and cardiac arrest is to go on trial.
Inless urgent cases, Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) call handlers will spend more time talking to patients to “better understand their needs and ensure they send the most appropriate resource for their condition”.
The move follows similar
“This shouldn’t be new, it’s been six years in the making”
changes in parts of England and Wales which are said to have led to faster response times for criticallyill patients.
Figures released last month showed the number of “high- risk” patients forced to waitmorethan20 minutes doubled in the last year. TheMcKandie family, from Miltonduff near Elgin, has been campaigning for emergency service procedures to be reviewed following “failings” after heir son Keiran died when his mountain bike and a car collided in March.
Ambulance crews took more than half an hour to reach the 16-year-old following the accident on the outskirts of Elgin.
His mother Sandra is campaigning to ensure the necessary emergency services are sent to all road incidents after it emerged fire crews with life- saving equipment were only notified when there was a spillage, risk of fire or someone was trapped – none of which was a factor when Keiran died.
She said she welcomed the SAS changes but added there was a “bigger point”. She said: “We’ve wanted to do this because we don’t think it’s acceptable what happened to Keiran.
“It’s good out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is being pushed forward so it’s being addressed for other people but they are missing the bigger point. There needs to be more joined-up working in place between the emergency services.
“If there isn’t an ambulance available, or it is too far away, then the next best thing should be sent to help, which is obviously beneficial for the patient.
“They signed a memorandum of understanding in 2010. This shouldn’t be a new thing, it’s been six years in the making.”
The ambulance service has an eight-minute target for “life-threatening” callouts. The new model involves three response categories – immediately lifethreatening calls, fast response calls and “managed safely at home” calls, which will be referred to GP, NHS 24 or social care services.
The year-long pilot will begin by the end of 2016 and is the first major change to the time-based targets system since 1974.
SAS chief executive, Pauline Howie, said: “This will allow us to respond faster tomorepatients with time-critical, immediately life-threatening conditions. In other situations, we will safely and more effectively identify and send the right resource first time.”