Update from Robert Morton: ‘outstanding’ care and the beautiful game (11th August)

Side of RRV with lozenge

It’s with great sadness that I pass on the message that little Finnbar, whose story I shared with you last week, passed away at the weekend. I am so proud that the Finnbar500 cycle team are still intending to complete their 500-mile journey for this little man, and are continuing to raise money in support of his family. I hope that by showing our support together, we can provide some small comfort to Finnbar’s family at this desperately sad time. 

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit Buntingford, Hertford, Hoddesdon and Cheshunt stations. I got to chat with Ben about the ever increasing rise in demand, Jack about the challenges associated with changes to acute hospital services, and Emma about the paramedic scope of practice.

We have been hitting the headlines of regional news this week following the release of our inspection results from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). On Tuesday (9th August), colleagues from the CQC came to Melbourn HQ to present their findings to us, NHS Improvement, NHS England, CCGs and Healthwatch. Following presentations from both the CQC and ourselves, the ‘Quality Summit’ was chaired by the Regional Quality Lead for NHS Improvement, with the feedback from all participants being overwhelmingly positive, particularly in relation to the care we provide. Indeed, getting an ‘outstanding’ rating in this area is no easy task – we are the only one to have done so of the four ambulance services assessed so far under the new CQC inspection regime. We’re also the only one to not have received an ‘inadequate’ rating in any area. Yes we still have improvements to make, but getting the best results of any ambulance service so far is something we should be very proud of.

The overwhelming message from the Quality Summit was that when you benchmark our CQC ratings and performance against Ambulance Clinical Quality Indicators nationally, we are among the best ambulance trusts in England.

A number of colleagues have expressed their frustration to me about a small few negative media reports that are not actually representative of the report or the feedback we have received from the CQC.  We need to recognise that anyone who doesn’t really understand how an ambulance service works will continue to focus on negative messaging about response times, however, the vast majority of our patients (in excess of 95%) consistently tell us every month that they are satisfied with our service; and now the CQC, along with key stakeholders, have told us as well about all of the areas of good practice that they witnessed or recognised. We have lots to be proud off and we need to have belief in ourselves and in our organisation that we can make further progress.

As a follow up to the inspection report, we now have to submit an action plan to the CQC within 28 working days to show how we’re going to make further improvements where they’re necessary.

The major theme in the report is that we need more patient-facing colleagues, and that we must change the way we operate if we are to meet the national targets set for us and the rising tide of demand. These issues aren’t new, and the positive is that we had already taken steps to propose a new way of working. We will continue to push on and ask for the support we need from commissioners and beyond to achieve what’s being asked of us. We know that it takes up to three years to recruit and train a paramedic, which is why we need the necessary investment to increase our intake of new staff now.

I also got to catch a bit of the ‘beautiful game’ this week ( I’m a Gaelic football fan!), as I popped down to watch the communications team take on the clinical team in a friendly seven-a-side kick-about after work. Both teams were loaded with ringers with a lot of psychology deployed both during and in the build up to the “game”.  After 50 minutes and six goals, both teams held their honour intact with a respectable 3-3 result, and more than anything it was great to see two different teams coming together outside of work just to have fun. I’m certain there will be a re-match at some point soon…perhaps in the not-too-distant future we could even start an EEAST league!

Have a good week,

Robert

Published 11th August, 2016

 

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