Ambulance chief says Trust now ranked among best

The region’s ambulance service is ranked in top five in the country for its response to the most critically ill patients, latest figures reveal. 

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) has made significant improvements in performance over the past year, despite demand increasing by nearly seven per cent.

These improvements include: 

• ambulances back on road faster after handing over patients at hospital
• more 999 calls being picked up more quickly compared to last year
• £14m back office savings reinvested in the frontline
• hundreds of frontline staff recruited and major upskill training in place for existing staff
• hundreds of new ambulances delivered with new and upgraded equipment
• patient satisfaction regularly hitting 98 per cent 

Dr Anthony Marsh, EEAST Chief Executive, believes the tide is turning for a Trust considered one of the country’s worst performing ambulance services just 12 months ago.  

He said: “Demand is up almost seven per cent on last year and it has been well publicised that it reached unprecedented levels during the winter. Despite this, our staff are working extremely hard and are reaching the most critically patients faster as well as getting back on the road more quickly after handing over patients at hospital. It is thanks to them, and the actions we put in place, that we have gone from being one of the worst performing ambulance services to regularly being one of the best.” 

Until July 2014, the Trust was the worst performing of 11 ambulance services for responses to the most life-threatening Red 1 emergencies – such as unconscious patients or those with traumatic injuries – which should be reached within eight minutes.  

But since October, crews are reaching these patients faster than the majority of other ambulance services, consistently being ranked in the top five in the country.  

• Demand for Red 1 calls has increased disproportionately and is currently up around 20% on last year
• In February, the Trust exceeded the national target by almost three percent, with nearly 78% of Red 1 emergencies reached on time (see graph below)
• The number of hours lost each month after a patient is handed into the care of hospital staff fell from 2,792 last April to 2,073 this January and 1,863 in February
• Between May and September 2014, the figure for calls picked up within five seconds fell short of the 95% target, but this has now been achieved consistently since October 

In addition, there are improvements in the Trust’s response for Red 2 calls, the second most serious type of emergencies, which were reached within eight minutes 61% of the time last April but 65 per cent of the time in January and 66% of the time last month (see attached graph).  

Dr Marsh added that while the results show that the Trust is moving in the right direction, there is no room for complacency and much hard work lies ahead. 

He said: “When I joined the Trust in January 2014 I set a number of ambitious targets to significantly improve the service. Over the last year we have upgraded our fleet, invested in new equipment, rolled out programmes to upskill existing staff, and recruited more than 400 frontline staff – with the same number set to join us over the coming year.  

“In addition, we have reinvested around £14 million of back office or corporate savings into frontline activity. We know we are not there yet but all of these measures have helped and will continue to help us improve our service.

“Our performance must continue to improve and we know we can expect to come under scrutiny, and rightly so, when we fall below expected standards. We are however consistently achieving patient satisfaction scores of 98% and the recent NHS staff survey showed that more and more of our staff now believe in what we are trying to achieve. We will not rest on our laurels though and as a values-driven organisation we will continue striving to deliver a service that works for both our patients and our staff.”