Winter preparation: HALO role returns

A significant proportion of the Trust’s additional winter funding will be spent on hospital ambulance liaison officers (HALOs), to work closely with our acute colleagues to deliver consistently excellent patient care.

It was announced in July that the Trust would be receiving £2million to deal with seasonal pressures, as part of the £18million given to ambulance services nationally.

EEAST is proposing to implement a HALO at several hospitals (some of them shared) across the region:

• Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Luton – one HALO role serving Watford, Lister and Welwyn and one serving Bedford South Wing and the Luton and Dunstable.
• Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire – one HALO role at each of the following; Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, Addenbrooke’s and Ipswich Hospital.
• Essex – one HALO role at Colchester, Broomfield and Princess Alexander Harlow respectively and one HALO role shared between Southend and Basildon Hospitals.

Each role will operate from 10am to 10pm, seven days per week and be undertaken by several staff.

It is expected that staff will be in post by the end of October.