Agency colleagues supporting patient-facing services

As you may have seen in last week’s recent exec update, we’re increasing our use of private ambulance services (PAS), and are also trialling using agency paramedics on a limited number of vehicles in parts of Hertfordshire and Essex.

As reported last month on Need to Know, a new, dedicated response car has been running in north east Herts, west Herts, west Essex and south west Essex respectively to support patient-facing colleagues in these areas. These agency colleagues, who are HCPC registered, can also be used on ambulances where appropriate.

The cover is being provided by Medic Now, an accredited provider specialising in sourcing ambulance professionals for NHS trusts. It’s hoped that the scheme, which comes as part of a commitment to provide better support in our most-challenged areas, will also help to ease pressure on patient-facing colleagues and allow us to provide a more responsive service to our patients.

Rob Ashford, Acting Director of Service Delivery, said: “This trial is all about trying to ease the pressure on patient-facing colleagues; as a joint initiative between the operations and clinical teams, we want to assess the impact it has on the working life of colleagues in the chosen areas.

“We’ll be looking to review how it’s going within three months, but we’d welcome staff getting in touch before then to share their views.”

Published 18th March, 2016