This Month…..

May 2013

PRISON OFFICERS AWARD TO WMAS Medics Praised

- see page 2

Frequent Caller Success

Learning from

Francis Exercise Amber New Vehicle

Fleet Apprentices

Awarded

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Birmingham Prison Praises Paramedics Prison officers swapped the prison wing for the football pitch to support WMAS. In November 2012, ambulance crews responded to HMP Birmingham after four prison officers were attacked by a prisoner. Hednesford Town Football Club recently hosted a charity football match between HMP Birmingham and HMP Oakwood which ended in a 3:0 win to HMP Birmingham and raised an impressive £2,000 for WMAS. G4S Director for HMP Birmingham, Pete Small, said: “This match is our way of showing gratitude to the superb professionalism and care that the crew of WMAS showed to our officers that day. Without their quick thinking, the outcome could have been much different for our colleagues with potentially even more serious consequences.” Nathan Hudson, General Manager for Birmingham, said: "Thank you to G4S and the Prison Officers Association for their praise and support.” The donation will go towards the purchase of training equipment for staff in Birmingham."

Pictured (l to r) Pete Small—Director, HMP Birmingham, Jerry Petherick-Managing Director G4S Custodial and Detention Services and Brendan O’Sullivan Paramedic Area Support Officer)

Frequent Caller Success New figures released at the Trust Board in April show that work on reducing the number of times frequent callers call the Trust resulted in a drop of around 5,000 calls compared to the previous year. Co-ordinated by the Safeguarding Team, 150 of the most prolific callers were targeted. Some were dialling 999 in excess of 100 times a quarter. Working with the Emergency Operations Centre and Operations staff, along with partner agencies, many of the individuals concerned have since changed their behaviour with the right support. Director of Quality and Nursing, Sandy Brown, told Board members: “The success has been achieved through identifying core reasons for calling and tackling the issues as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Many of the callers now do not call 999 at all. There has been significant progress made in the Birmingham Area and this has been repeated thoughout all areas. A big thank you to all of the staff involved in this important work.”

Learning From Francis The Francis Report is far reaching for the NHS and the Trust Board has been following developments closely. At the Board meeting in April, Director of Nursing and Quality, Sandy Brown, presented a report outlining the work that has been going on within WMAS. He said: “As a Trust, there is much that we can learn from the findings of the most recent report in the same way as we did from the first one Robert Francis published a few years ago. We have already made significant progress but there is more that we can do. One area where we will be making a change is in regard to being open with our patients especially if things don’t go right. Each year we will publish an anonymised report into the complaints we have received and the learning that we have taken from them. We can all learn from complaints and near misses, which is why we want to hear from staff if they see issues that we could improve on.” To see the Board report, go to the Trust website www.wmas.nhs.uk/Pages/aboutus.aspx and click on ‘Board Agenda Papers’ on the left hand side.

News……. Earl Howe Praises Ambulance Staff Ambulance staff have been praised by a Government minister for ‘all of their hard work every day of the year to deliver high quality care to patients despite increased demand’. The comments came from Ambulance Minister, Earl Howe who was speaking at the Annual Ambulance Leadership Forum in Warwickshire in May. He said that staff continue to perform at a ‘very high level’ and that there had been ‘good progress’ in relation to improving the Ambulance Quality Indicators in areas such as stroke, cardiac arrest and heart attacks.

Awards for Apprentices Business Administration apprentices Tiffany Fear, Ryan McCabe and Gareth Caine have been presented with their NVQ Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship Certificates in Business Administration by Chief Executive, Anthony Marsh on completion of their programme. Diane Pittom, Organisational Development Officer, said: “Tiffany, Ryan and Gareth have all enjoyed their year with us and the variety of work experience this has offered. I have seen them grow in confidence during this time and wish them all the best for the future.”

(Picture L/R; Anthony Marsh with Diane Pittom, Tiffany Fear, Ryan McCabe and Gareth Caine).

Civic Role for Adam Paramedic Adam Aston has his finger on the pulse of Dudley Borough communities after being named Consort to the Deputy Mayor of Dudley. Dudley Council announced the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the year ahead . Councillor Alan Finch was named Mayor, while Councillor Margaret Aston became the new Deputy Mayor and she named her son, Councillor Adam Aston as her Consort for the year. Adam said: “It’s a real honour and a privilege to be working in the Mayoral team and I’m really looking forward to speaking to the people in our communities who make

a real difference to the Borough. It’s also a great opportunity to work with my mom as well who has been an outstanding councillor for the past 13 years.”

News…….

Exercise Amber 2 On Thursday 10

th May, the Trust took

part in “a most significant” mass casualty incident training exercise. Exercise Amber 2 was held at Swynnerton Training Camp in Staffordshire, a year after the first “Amber” event in London as part of Olympic Games preparations. WMAS was joined by the other nine English ambulance services, several police forces, fire and rescue services, air ambulances, the military and voluntary groups. There were around 130 ‘casualties’ acted mostly by paramedic and nursing students from the University of Worcester, Coventry University and Staffordshire University along with Amputees in Action. Trust Chief Executive and Chairman of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, Anthony Marsh, said: “It is

the most significant exercise that NHS ambulance services have ever conducted with our partner agencies in this country. As part of the emergency services we are mandated to deal with a wide variety of incidents so it is vital we are prepared.” Exercise Amber 2 was organised by the National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU).

Well Done Mat A Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officer (HALO) in the Black Country has been praised by a hospital for partnership working. Mat Fox, HALO at New Cross Hospital, was recently presented with an award at the hospital’s ‘Royal’ ceremony commending his partnership working. Tim Powell, Deputy Chief

Operating Officer, said: “Our front line emergency teams appreciate Mat’s hands on approach and the help he gives in co-ordinating patient arrivals and ambulance handover and turnarounds. Mat you fully deserve this award and we look forward to working with you in future.” Nick Henry, Black Country General Manager, said: “This award is testament to the hard work and dedication that Mat has put in with the Hospital and our staff.”

New Fleet for Walsall PTS Walsall Patient Transport Service (PTS ) have this week taken delivery of new vehicles to work on the contract. The complete new fleet of 10 consists of two stretcher vehicles, five seated vehicles and three chairman vehicles and will assist staff to ensure that patients, predominately from the Walsall area, get to their hospital appointments. The contract, which went live in March, will see a p p r o x i m a t e l y 3 0 , 0 0 0 non-emergency journeys taking

place each year.

Joint Working on Contract Two Patient Transport Service (PTS) discharge vehicles have been introduced to the Heart of England Foundation Trust contract. The new initiative has already seen the number of discharges improve from both A&E and wards at the Trust. Jill Harvey, Commercial Services General Manager said: “We are working closely with the hospital trust and commissioners to continue to improve the service. Although early days, the introduction of these vehicles has been received really positively and I have seen some excellent team work being undertaken over the past week with some really pleasing results.”

999 Teams Share Best Practice With 999 calls increasing year-on-year, WMAS is working with West Midlands Police (WMP) to educate ambulance crews and police about their own calls to each other. WMAS and WMP have joined forces in a bid to reduce the demand placed upon each other by each other. Posters and aide memoires are being rolled out across Birmingham, Black Country and Coventry highlighting the common misconceptions ambulance crews and police may have and the instances where help should be sought from each other. One common reason for WMAS to call the police is to help gain access to a property to reach a patient. In reality, ambulance crews can force entry to a property if they believe there

is a risk to the patient. Similarly, the police often call for an ambulance if someone they encounter has minor injuries. The services are also sharing and updating vital details on warning markers and information on ‘at risk’ addresses to enable crews and police to undertake effective risk assessments prior to requesting help from each other. Jeremy Brown, the Trust’s Head of Emergency Operations Centres, said: “We rely on each other every single day for help but, in reality, with increasing demand on both services it’s crucial we look at how we can work more efficiently to ensure we’re delivering the right patient care, in the right place and at the right time. Working in partnership means we can establish clear guidelines for both our staff and police and learn from each other in the process through exploring the calls historically made and received. It is hoped that these simple measures will ensure that both of our precious resources will be used more effectively and will only be called upon when it’s really necessary.”

News…….

North Staffordshire Transport Contract

Following a competitive tender process, the Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract in North Staffordshire has not been retained by WMAS. The contract that employs over 130 staff, has 60 vehicles and transports over 200,000 patients annually has been awarded to NSL Ltd who also provide the PTS services in South Staffordshire. The Trust unsuccessfully challenged the decision despite support from patient forums and local MPs. Jill Harvey, General Manager of Commercial Services, said: “We are very disappointed to have been unsuccessful. We worked extremely hard to retain the contract following on from the great service that we have provided to our patients. I encourage the staff not to be disheartened and to continue with the excellent service they provide daily”.

Putts, Swings and Shocks A golf club on the Staffordshire / Shropshire border has taken delivery of a life-saving piece of kit thanks to WMAS. Patshull Park Hotel, Golf and Country Park in Pattingham is now the proud owner of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Staff from various departments were given defib and basic life support training last week. A real emergency happened when a trainee collapsed during the session! Fortunately, Emma Wilkins, Black Country Community Response Manager, was on hand to give the man the care he needed. Emma said: “It’s common sense for such a busy leisure facility to have a defibrillator and people trained in first aid as it’s inevitable that someone will need vital first aid.” Stephen Kimbell, General Manager at Patshull Park, said: “I’m very impressed with the technology and intelligence of the defibrillator. By having this device and the staff trained to use it, it improves our ability to care for our customers and that is something I’m very proud of.”

Pictured L to R: Ayhan Tunc, Sue Mitton, Keith Williams, Stephen Kimbell and Emma Wilkins.

Managers Briefing on 2013-14 Almost 100 managers from all areas of the organisation came together for the Trust’s briefing in April. Staff heard presentations from many of the Directors along with sessions on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Organisational Development. Trust Chief Executive, Anthony Marsh spoke of his pride in the way the organisation had been able to continue providing a very high level of clinical care despite almost intolerable pressure on many fronts. He said: “I know how much work goes into achieving what we do. It is not by accident that we, as an organisation, have been able to continue to provide a good level of service to patients when others have struggled. It is only through the dedication of staff, in all areas of the Trust, that we have been able to continue looking after patients. This year its looks like being just as tough with demand still up, the bedding in of the new commissioning arrangements and the development of 111 all having an effect on us. Within the Trust, we are looking forward to taking forward a brand new electronic patient record, improving the clinical support for ‘hear and treat’ and a big increase in staff numbers. It won’t be easy but if we all work together, we will succeed.”

News…….

Visit of Hong Kong Ambulance Officers Trust HQ was the first stop for two senior figures after landing in the UK from Hong Kong. Henry Kim-Man Kwok (Superintendent of Hong Kong Fire Services Department Ambulance Command) and Wai Hung Lam (Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer) had asked to see an ambulance station during their visit to attend the Ambulance Leadership Forum in

Kenilworth. They were shown around Millennium Point, specifically the Emergency Operations Centre. Mr. Kwok likened their service to that of London, serving a Hong Kong population of seven million people. The visitors are pictured presenting Trust Chief Executive Anthony Marsh with a tie and hat before moving on to a tour of the Dudley hub.

NHS Diversity Week The NHS celebrated Diversity week from 13-17th May and a variety of different things took place within the Trust including a quiz to test the staff’s knowledge of diversity. The top three submissions were each rewarded a £20 book token.

Over 70 Letters of Commendation in a Month The work of staff continues to be recognised by a grateful public through a steady flow of letters of thanks. In April, the Trust received no fewer than 73 letters. Trust Chairman, Sir Graham Meldrum, said: “Each month in our Board meetings we receive a note about how many people write to say thank you. It is always humbling to see that, in this day and age, so many people still take the time to put pen to paper, or use a computer to say thank you. Please accept my thanks for the fantastic work that you carry out, even under the considerable challenges that we currently face.

Make Ready – Coventry Hub Update

Contractors have finished constructing the new Make Ready hub in Ibstock Road, Coventry (left). They handed the building over to WMAS in the middle of May with the premises due to go live on Monday 10

th June. Building work is also

taking shape at both Hollymoor (bottom left) and Erdington (right) Hubs in Birmingham. They are expected to be operational from July and August respectively.

News…….

Worcester Hub Goes Live The refurbished Worcester ambulance station in Spetchley Road went live as a hub at the end of April. Managing the developments, Make Ready operational lead for Worcestershire, Debbie Small, said: “Crews have told me they were impressed with how the station had changed. I would like to thank staff for putting up with the disruption and for having to park elsewhere for the duration of building work.”

Trust Board Meetings 2013 WMAS Trust Board meetings will be arranged on a monthly basis in 2013. The meetings will be scheduled at locations around the region, including our Millennium Point headquarters. To find out more about our Trust Board meetings, please view our website on: www.wmas .nhs .uk /about_us /who_are_we/the_trust_board.aspx Or contact Kay Cullen on 01384 246 411.

Lifesaving Defibrillators Installed at North Warwickshire Leisure Centres

All four of the Borough Council’s leisure and sports centres now have their own defibrillators, thanks to a partnership with WMAS. The centres at Arley and Polesworth will have the defibrillators installed on the outside of the building, so that any member of the public will have access to the kit. Councillor Derek Pickard, the Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing said: “Thanks to our joint work, North Warwickshire now has access to state of the art life-saving equipment as well as leisure centre staff who

are trained in using the defibrillators.” Photo shows Anne Foley of Midlands Emergency Response (left), Manager of Atherstone Leisure Complex, Claire Lodge with Bobby Qayam, Community Response Manager from WMAS and Leisure Centre staff member Chelsea Wilson.

News…….

April 2013 Red (999 life threatening calls)

(Target: 75% within an 8 minute response)

WMAS 73.4%

Birmingham 72.4%

Black Country 70.5%

Coventry & Warwickshire 74.2%

West Mercia 73.5%

Staffordshire 77.2%

Performance