Thank you: from Sandy Brown, Deputy Chief Executive

I’m writing to thank everyone for working and volunteering in the midst of unprecedented demand. 

Our control room colleagues handled in the region of 4,000 calls yesterday (27^th December) alone, and we’re seeing much higher demand than we plan for and what we’re commissioned to respond to. Although under these pressures we’ve still delivered an excellent service to our patients, these are not the record breaking statistics we would like to experience. I would like to reassure you all that we are working with clinical commissioning group (CCG) and acute hospital colleagues to manage the demand over these very challenging periods. 

Patients all over the region are thankful for the hours you’re putting into their care, and we’ve had messages by email and on social media from people who have been treated really well by you. The cold snap will certainly have had an effect on people with long-term medical conditions who have not been able to manage their normal treatment for whatever reason, and of course we’re in the season of norovirus and other transferable ‘nasties’. Please ensure you’re protecting yourself and your loved ones by following IPC guidelines and minimising your risk of picking up a minor illness. 

We know during unprecedented activity it’s really tough to get time to think, reflect, and ensure you’re looking after yourself. However, I do hope that all our teams have been able to take time to look out for one another in the ambulance family way I know we operate. Seeing some of the Christmas photos posted on social media, it’s great to know that people took what time they could to get into the festive spirit. 

As we going into the later stage of the week, we could see a little respite as people recover from the Christmas-time conditions that caused them to call 999 in the first place. But of course, this weekend brings with it the New Year celebrations and Sunday will in particular see a spike in demand as has been historically shown. If you’re considering picking up extra shifts, or are able to give some support in a community volunteer way, any assistance will be really gratefully received not just by your local teams, but by everyone working to ensure we’re responding in the best way possible and putting patient safety and quality care at the heart of what we’re doing. 

Thank you once again for all of your hard work, and I wish you a peaceful and safe new year. 

Sandy

 

Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Nursing and Clinical Quality

Published 28^th December, 2016